Z for Zim
by mbulsht
Summary: Part one of my Divided Empire series. What happens when Zim finds out everything he knows is a lie? And who is this mysterious friend who tries to clear his name? Forward written by Invader Zim himself. Flamers are to be shot in the kneecaps.
1. Foreword

A/N: In this story there will be many references, quotes, and parodies of various books, songs, and movies. Congrats to the first reader to catch them all!!!!

* * *

FOREWORD

To my dearest human readers,

I remember the first day that I met The Silenced (for that is what we call him, is it not?). He refused to give me his name, stating that 'silence' was principally what his life as a writer was founded on. This made no sense to me at all, and that may be because I am not human, and therefore do not know all the different human expressions and nuances.

But I digress.

The first day I met The Silenced, he got right down to business and asked to interview me and write a book about my adventures beyond the documentaries filmed by Jhonen Vasquez.

My answer was, "Eh?"

I refused. At the time, I was disgusted with the idea, because I only wanted peace and quiet. I was having a happy an easy life living with the Dib-stink (I call him that in more endearing terms now) and his frightening sister (that, however, not so endearing. She really does scare my down to my very squeedly-spooch).

But as time went on, I realized that many wanted to hear my story. I could not imagined why. Was I not Zim, the very mighty Irken invader thing? The diabolical alien that had once so desired to enslave the human race and steal their brain-meats?

Not anymore, apparently.

I finally agreed. It seemed that more and more people everyday wanted to hear about my exploits after I left Earth. I also found out I would make millions of Earth-monies.

* * *

To my fellow Irken Invaders of Operation Impending Doom Two,

We all remember the day that we were 'fired.' I remember all too well mine. Our collective story is one that shall live on in infamy. A story of sadness and torture, a story of hope and desire, a story of cheese and intestinal meats (GIR!!! Stop typing on my keyboard!).

I believe we all learned something during the final days of the Irken empire. As we stood there, looking out at the raging fires, knowing we were finally finished, we realized a truth within ourselves. You see, the truth is, we believed that we were not free to do as we pleased, to feel emotions deemed 'undesirable' by the Tallest and the Control Brains. But on that day, we realized that it was not the dark figures hiding in the shadows controlling us. It was only us, holding ourselves back.

And so, as the human Army people speak, Be all that you can Be.

And with that, I would like to say, thank you very much to The Silenced for writing this book, and this is Zim, signing off until the next series.

-Ex-Invader, Zim Membrane.


	2. Title and Dedication

**A DIVIDED EMPIRE PART ONE:**

**Z FOR ZIM**

By

The Silenced, and Zim Membrane

* * *

The Silenced would like to dedicate this book to Professor Membrane J. Membrane. Your inventions were an invaluable help to everyone in the world, and perhaps, in the universe.

* * *

Ex-Invader Zim Membrane would like to dedicate this book to Tak. All I wanted was a snack…


	3. Prologue

PROLOGUE

As I trudged up the path to the Membrane household for the second time in my life, I thought how I had gotten to be where I was.

I suppose it began a few years ago when I was working on a book about the history of the planet Meekrob. I had seen a special on the History Channel entitled Invader Zim. It was a marathon of the three-part documentary filmed by Jhonen Vasquez about a curious green alien named Zim. It had real footage of Zim's wild adventures trying to take over the world, taken from his robot's memory banks, as well as from hidden camera film, courtesy of Dib Membrane. The special lasted for nearly the entire day. I set aside my current work and watched it the whole way through. Ten hours and several burgers later, I watched, horrified, as the series ended right in the middle of what seemed to be Zim's greatest plan yet.

I was disgusted. What kind of fool stops a documentary right in the middle of the story? Though it was obvious Zim had failed (I wasn't a slave to an alien race yet), I still did not know how the story ended.

I wrote to Jhonen Vasquez that very day, asking him why he had stopped making the documentary. The reply was thus:

_Dear The Silenced,_

_My reasons for stopping is twofold: Firstly, I was getting very tired of making them. Even though the demand is high for more Zim action, and there have been several online petitions to continue the series, I have grown weary of it, and therefore no longer film the documentary._

_And secondly, something happened to Zim after that last plan. Something that changed him forever, and he suddenly stopped trying to take over the world. Our story is over. He no longer tries to enslave the human race. There is no point in continuing the series if the human race is no longer involved._

_Sincerely,_

_Jhonen Vasquez_

I read this through several times. I was taken aback. Our story was over? Then I realized: Perhaps the human's side of this story was _over_. Perhaps after that last diabolical plan, when something happened that caused Zim to halt his quest for domination, Zim's story was only just _beginning_.

I vowed to investigate this.

I drove that day to the Membrane household, and rang the doorbell. A young teenager with an enormously large head opened the door. I asked to see Zim. The young man nodded, and called Zim's name.

A moment later, the small green alien whose height was barely that of my legs appeared. I told him that I wanted to write a book that finished the story that the Vasquez documentary so disappointingly cut off.

He slammed the door in my face.

Weeks later, I got a call back from Dib Membrane (the big- head kid), who told me that Zim had finally agreed. I don't know what changed his mind.

* * *

Anyways,

As I trudged up the path to the Membrane household for the second time in my life, reflecting how I had gotten to be there, the sounds of music travled across the air to my ears. The Membrane household was having a party, and I was invited. It was here that Zim and his closest friends would come together and tell me the story I had so desired. I had agreed that Zim would help to write this book, and, well, here it is. I hope that you are as satisfied with it as I am.

-The Silenced


	4. The Trump Effect

CHAPTER ONE:

"The Trump Effect"

Zim was working on something new. Something, so diabolical that even he himself was frightened of it. As he stood there in his basement working furiously, welding with his PAK legs and assembling parts with his claws, he nearly screamed aloud to himself, a habit that manifested itself when he was excited.

"YES!!! MY WORK IS NEARLY COMPLETE!!! For too long have the humans sat ignorant of my plans! For too long have the humans disgusted me with their filth! For too long has the Dib-human protruded his smelly face into my work!"

He stroked his nearly completed machine lovingly.

"When you are completed, my sweet death machine, you will bring Doom to all the filthy, disgusting pig-humans in this nasty world. Yes you will, my dear. And finally that horrid Dib-stink will bow to ME!!! Supreme ruler of all-"

He was interrupted by the beeping sound of his alarm. He looked over to the clock on the computer screen. It read 7:00.

"Arghhh! Is it time for Skool already? I almost wish I could skip it, but I must keep up appearances," he complained.

Zim looked back at his latest diabolical piece of machinery.

"But not for long…" he said to himself giddily.

And with that, he jumped into the nearest elevator, which deposited him in the kitchen.

As he walked through the T.V. room, he gave his final morning orders to GIR.

"GIR! Keep my base safe, as usual. Do not go near my machine, and do not answer the door. Let the robot parents take care of that. Oh, and one more thing, DO NOT ORDER FOOD AGAIN!!!!"

GIR's eyes and torso turned red as he snapped a crisp salute.

"Yes, my master! I shall do as you command!"

His eyes turned to their normal blue color.

"IMA EAT SOME CHICKEN LEGS!!!" he added, laughing insanely.

Zim rolled his eyes, and left the house.

Zim was late for Skool, as he usually was on days when he was working on a new scheme. Perhaps Dib sensed this, because he was extra suspicious (if such were possible) of Zim that day.

"I won't rest until I have you on an autopsy table, being experimented on by the Swollen Eyeball, Zim!" he said.

But Zim bore this pain, because he knew that at home, his wonderful machine waited for him, ready to be finished. That day went by uneventfully.

As the skool day neared its end, Ms. Bitters launched into her routine destruction-of-all-happiness lesson again. This time, it was about earth's solar system's centerpiece: the sun.

"And, so as you see class, all things have to die. That's just how things are. Get used to it. After billions of years, a sun just runs out of energy and explodes, killing everything within quadrillions of miles. This is known as a Supernova."

Zim raised his hand. Ms. Bitters frowned angrily and called on him to ask his question.

"Miss monster lady! I, Zim wish to know how a sun goes through such a process. How does it explode? Tell meeee!!!!"

Ms. Bitters cocked one eyebrow and answered in an annoyed voice.

"Well children, It is like so: When a sun begins to lose energy, the core of the sun begins to lose mass. When this happens, the sun becomes unstable. You see, the sun is supposed to be perfectly balanced between surface and core, much like our planet. When the core looses mass, this balance is messed up. When the core has lost too much mass, the gravity of the core pulls the rest of the sun into itself so quickly, that it causes a massive explosion. And this makes an end to all the disgusting little creatures living near the sun. DOOM AND FIRE!!! And that is how a sun goes supernova. This just proves that our sun, just like the rest of the universe is nothing more than a cute little ball of happiness destined to someday IMPLODE IN ON ITSELF!!!! Now be quiet for the rest of your short little miserable lives in my class and stop asking questions."

Zim toyed with the idea of causing Earth's sun to explode, but decided against it. First of all, he didn't have a ship that could outrun a supernova, and second, he didn't want to destroy Earth, he only wanted to enslave all of mankind.

_A paltry task for an Invader such as I_, thought Zim. _And now so much easier with my new Death Machine_.

* * *

Zim was working on his machine when the call came that would forever change the course of many lives. The computer announced in a bored tone that the Tallest were calling Zim, and that Zim never gave the computer a chance to feel happy. 

"My Tallest? Calling? Oh NO! I must clean this place up! I've made such mess while working on my Machine!"

But it did not matter. At that moment, the faces of Tallest Red and Purple appeared on Zim's computer screen. Zim laughed nervously.

"He he, my Tallest! What a surprise. I apologize for the mess you see in my base, but I am working on my latest machine," He said, indicating the hulking mass of battle-plate armor and weaponry behind him. "does it not AMAZE you???" he added.

Tallest Red looked at the machine.

"Yeah, whatever" he said.

"OOOHHH!" cried Purple "I like it!!! I'll take it! It's mine!"

With that, a portal opened up and transported the Machine to the Massive. Tallest Purple ran offscreen to the Mail Receive Bay shouting "It's Mine!!! Nobody touch it!!!"

Zim was at a loss.

"My Tallest!" he said, shocked, "I need that for my work here on earth!"

Tallest Purple returned, carrying bags of popcorn, one of which he gave to Red.

"Well, you see, that's the thing," began Red, crunching loudly on his popcorn. "We just don't think you're cut out for the job. Purple and I have discussed this for a long time, and have decided that you're just not the right Irken for this job. We're sorry Zim, but were letting you go."

"Mrph!!hmwerjo?72234i5j;lkzlkj!!!!" agreed Purple with a mouthful of popcorn.

"And you're such a good sport about everything, and all, so we decided to just say it simply."

Zim was staring, slack-jawed at the computer screen, in utter disbelief. He could barely take in everything that his mighty Tallest were saying. Letting him go? Why? What was the meaning of this? And then, Red spoke his final words.

"You're fired."

With that, the screen winked out and the Tallest's faces disappeared, leaving behind an empty black computer screen.

Zim sat back, completely unaware of the computer rattling on about how it had expected this from the beginning. His only thoughts were on his own existence. What was he to do? If there was no longer any mission, then what use was he? What did his life matter, in the grand scheme of things?

_NO!!!_ he thought. _I matter! I am ZIM! The Tallest once declared me defective, yet I proved them wrong by devising my greatest plan ever! How can they dare declare me a non-Invader!?_

But suddenly, his eyes were opened. On a sudden impulse, he ran to another computer console, one he used to keep records of all the video files he had.

"Computer, bring up the video file of the Great Assigning." He said

"Very well, if I must…" grumbled the Computer.

The black plasma screen blinked to life, and revealed a scene which Zim remembered vividly. It was the great Convention Hall on Conventia, and thousands of Irkens gathered to see the Great Assigning, the ceremony that would name the greatest Irken soldiers in the entire race, and assign them to key planets that were important parts of Operation: Impending Doom II.

He watched it thouroughly.

* * *

_Zim: My Tallest, an opportunity to prove that I truly can be an invader is all that I ask! Gimme! _

_Red (to Purple): Hold on, I've got a plan. (to Zim) We see now that you are truly deserving. _

_Zim: Yes. Yes I am. _

_Red: You will be sent to a planet so mysterious, no one has even heard of it! _

_Purple: Right! And those who have heard of it dare not speak its name! _

_Zim: What's its name? _

_Purple: Oh, I dare not speak it! _

_Zim: Where is it? _

_Red: Um... (he starts hovering around searching the holograph of the universe for a planet) Uh... Uh... Um... Right there! _

_Red points to a slip of paper taped to the holograph pole that shows the outline of a planet and a question mark in it with the word "planet?" written underneath it. _

_Zim: Ooh! Oooooooooh! A secret mission! _

_Red: Happy now? _

_Zim: Yes._

_

* * *

_Zim finished watcing the movie file. He sat back, stunned. How could he have been so blind before? It was so obvious now, how stupid and naïve he had been. They had no faith in him from the beginning, and had only given him a job to keep him away from the rest of the Invaders. 

"GAHHHHHGGGRRARR!!!!" he roared like an animal, swearing in Irken, Vortian, English, and all the languages he knew.

"(&$#&$&$#$(CENSURED BY THE DEPT. OF CENSURE)#$$$#$#$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1"

How stupid he was! How could he not realize the JOKE that his whole being was founded on.

"How could I have been so FUCKING STUPID!!!!!????"

Whether in anger at himself, or anguish for his position, he ran to the elevator. He needed to get out of his base, with it's cold and unfeeling machinery.

He jumped out of the garbage can in the kitchen, ran past GIR in the living room, slammed the door open, and ran out into the pouring rain.

The acidic water sizzled on his skin, melting every part of him it touched, and stinging him harshly. He did not care. He let the rain fall on him and wash away his body. Slowly he sank to the ground, and lay down in a puddle of rainwater. His skin screamed in protest, but he was numb to everything. He lay facedown in the puddle, his usually so bright magenta eyes dulling and leaking out their oil-based tears.

The rain pelted him painfully, and in many places the sight of skin was giving way to bone. He was bleeding oily Irken blood everywhere.

_I will die._ He thought. _But what of it?_

He closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

And that is how Dib Membrane found him the next day.


	5. Death of an Invader

CHAPTER TWO:

"Death of an Invader"

It was far too good to be true. There was no way that somehow God or Fate or any of those deities had suddenly decided to turn soft, and blow great fortune into Dib's life. These were the thoughts that went through Dib's mind as he approached the prone form of Zim.

Dib had found out earlier that rainy days were the best days for spying on Zim's house. Since the tiny Irken did not usually go out in the rain, on days like this he stayed indoors and worked on his plans and machines. Yet here he was, lying in a puddle, unconscious, and in too much pain to resist anything Dib would do to him.

Dib picked up the little creature and carried him to his house. It was not far, and much Zim was not too heavy. Lighter now, in fact, because of the large amounts of skin and bone that had been dissolved by the rain. It was truly a miracle that Zim was still alive. Well, perhaps not a miracle for Zim. Good fortune for Dib and the Swollen Eyeball, but most certainly not for Zim. If Dib could have seen himself, he would have noticed that the smile he was wearing on his face as he thought these thoughts was not unlike the smile that Zim wore whenever he was about to kill something.

When he got home, he burst the door open and quickly carried Zim upstairs to his room. Gaz opened one of her eyes wide to see Dib running past her on the couch, but grunted and went back to squinting at her game. As soon as he had Zim locked in his new Alien Containment Cage, he ran downstairs to spill the good news to his little sister.

"Gaz! It's finally over! I've finally won! I don't know if it was by chance or by fate, and I don't care. I finally have him, and the world will see Zim for the true lying, filthy alien that he is! I'll be famous!!!" he was speaking so fast that he tripped over his own words.

Gaz narrowed her eyes even more, if such was possible.

"Dib…" she began threateningly as she played her Gameslave, "You better stop talking before your voice causes my terrible rage to boil over, and I do to you with a SPOON what I am doing to these vampire piggies with a SWORD."

"Er…um…yes, right…okay…" Dib backed away slowly.

Back upstairs in his room, he contacted the Swollen Eyeball Network. Agent Darkbooty appeared on one of the floating screens, his face hidden from view as usual, and other screens began flickering to life as more Agents joined the video chat.

"My fellow Agents, I give to you the alien, Zim!" he announced, pointing to his Cage.

The other Agents ooohhed and ahhhed at the scrawny injured alien. Zim was beginning to come around. Already, his bones were growing back and his skin piecing itself together. Dib thought it was truly amazing how quickly an Irkin could regenerate. If only somehow their technology could be applied to humans, how long the life expectancy could extend!

"There is much to be learned from the body of this Irken," began Dib again, "This is without a doubt the happiest I have ever been in my life. Just think, my fellow Agents, what we could do if we learn just how he heals so quickly?"

"Agent Mothman, you will be remembered in history from this moment onward! This is truly an achievement for the human race." Said Agent Darkbooty. "A few Agents will be along to your house to pick up the alien. Until then, keep your swollen eyeballs open. Agent out."

The other agents' video chat screens winked out one by one.

A few minutes later, Gaz observed Dib carrying a Cage with Zim in it down the stairs and out the door, where it was picked up by a masked man who thanked Dib. Gaz set down her game. It bored her.

"So, Dib, you won," said Gaz. "How does it feel?"

Dib smiled triumphantly. "GREAT!" was all he could say.

Gaz grunted and turned on the T.V.

* * *

It was barely a week later that Dib heard the doorbell ring. He opened the door to see nobody there, except the pitiful sleeping form of Zim in the Cage, and a videodisk taped to the Irken's back. Confused, Dib looked around, but he saw no indication that anyone had ever delivered the Cage. Typical Eyeball Agents. Always cloak smoke and dagger. Dib shrugged and picked up the Cage. He always marveled at how light the Irken was for his size. He carried the Cage past Gaz, who was sitting on the couch playing games again. 

Gaz opened one eye wide to see what was going on, and then quickly resumed squinting at her Gameslave.

"Déjà vu…" she muttered.

In his room, Dib watched Zim sleep fretfully. Dib took the videodisk that was taped to Zim's back and put it in his computer.

The screen flickered to life, and Dib watched the movie:

* * *

_Agent Darkbooty appears on the screen._

"_Agent Mothman, this is Darkbooty. You're probably wondering why we have returned the alien. Let me explain. For the past week, we have been doing experiments on Zim. We have observed his incredible regenerative abilities. That was the first thing we vowed to study. Being unable to discover the source of this power, we tortured him for information, a standard procedure for all alien life forms."_

_The screen changes to show a cement enclosed room with no windows. In the middle of the room, Zim is strapped to some sort of metal table. With the push of a button, one of the Agents sends a painful electrical shock to Zim. The Agents gleefully play around with this button._

_Darkbooty continues narrating._

"_But for some reason, Zim never made a sound. We gave him all sorts of pain, but he just hung there and took it with the saddest look in his eyes."_

_The scene continues with the agents electrifying Zim. But now, Zim speaks up._

"_Do what you will, humans." He says, his voice filled not with pain or fear, but sadness. "Whatever pain you administer, I shall take, because I deserve it."_

_The Agents look at eachother, confused. Zim begins to babble incoherently_

"_Stupid, I call them. Fools! But who is the stupid one? The fools, or he that follows them? I was so blind, so easy to manipulate, to control. They used me for what I was worth, then sent me away. I thought I was honored. I was ignorant. _Erefnagse blehorrwasd shintadin"

_For a long time, Zim speaks in Irken what seems to be prayers, before falling silent. He hangs his head and speaks one last time in English._

"_Torture me, kill me, please. I don't care anymore. Who am I to disagree with the great Gods? If this is my fate, then so be it."_

_He falls silent._

_The Agents look at eachother, horrified, and then exit the room, leaving Zim alone. The only sound that remains is the steady _'drip, drip'_ of oily tears hitting the cold cememt floor._

_Agent Darkbooty's face returns to the screen and begins to speak._

"_We couldn't bring ourselves to hurt him any longer. We may seem to be heartless men, but we still have morals. I do not know what you did to him, Agent Mothman, but whatever it was, you have broken him."_

_The screen flickers out._

* * *

Dib stared at the screen with his mouth open, much in the same way Zim had stared slack-jawed at his Tallest not more than a week ago. 

"But I didn't do anything! I found Zim like that, broken!" he said to himself. He wondered what it was that happened that had made Zim this way.

Dib turned to look at Zim, who seemed to be awake now. Zim was slowly hitting his head on the bars of the Cage, which were electrified. He seemed not to be aware of the pain.

_Thud. Zap. Thud. Zap._

"Stop that!" yelled Dib. He ran over and unplugged the Cage from its power source to stop the bars from administering the shock.

But Zim just kept on hitting his forehead on the bars. _Thud, Thud_ went his head. There was a blank look in his eyes, as though there was life in his body, but no soul in his being. Dib soon saw that Zim was no longer a threat to anything.

"Zim, I am going to let you out of the Cage, okay? But I need to know that you won't try anything," he said. Zim did not answer at all.

_Thud. Thud._

Dib couldn't bear to see his greatest rival so devoid of spirit. He opened the door of the cage, and Zim fell out, and lay facedown on the carpet. Dib helped him up, and Zim stood up, seemingly unaware of where he was. Dib led him downstairs to the kitchen. Gaz looked up only for an instant. She did not at all seem surprised by what was happening.

Dib made Zim a sandwich that he knew wouldn't kill him. No meat or water of any kind. Zim looked down at the sandwich, and back up at Dib.

"Why." he said weakly, not even bothering to waste enough energy to make the single word into a question.

Dib shrugged. "I don't think you are a threat to me anymore. Something happened that day that I found you, didn't it?"

Zim nodded, and picked up his sandwich.

Dib could plainly see that Zim's mission was over. He did not know how or why, only that it was.

Zim stood up, saying softly that there was some unfinished business that needed attending. He walked out of the door and down the street.

Zim was very soon at his house. He did not live far from the Membrane household. As he walked into his house, he saw that nothing had changed in the week that he was gone. GIR was still watching the T.V. and eating the disgusting food he always pulled out of the dumpster. Zim smiled as he watched GIR. Zim would always admire GIR's amazing ability to be lighthearted about everything, even if it was only the result of having gargbage for brains.

Zim climbed into the toilet in the kitchen, and flushed himself down to his lab. Upon entering the lab, he walked over to the computer console and began typing. The computer spoke in a confused voice.

"Master Zim, that is the command code to self destruct the base! What are you doing?"

"I know what it is, my computer," answered Zim. "What am I doing, you ask? Something I should have done years ago."

A countdown timer appeared on the screen, reading _2:00._

Zim quickly walked to the elevator, and rode it to the kitchen. He ran out of the kitchen, and into the T.V. Room.

"GIR!" he addressed the little robot. "The base is about to self-destruct. I release you from my command. You are now a free robot, and may do whatever you want. I would suggest you leave, but it's up to you."

"YAYEEEE!" screamed GIR with delight. He immediately plunged himself into a bowl of mayonnaise, which had for some reason been sitting on the floor. He then wiped pizza on himself and ate it. Zim laughed softly. Good old GIR.

Zim sat down on the couch and pressed a button on the T.V. remote. The countdown timer appeared on its screen. Zim watched it tick away. It now read _1:15._

"I guess things like life can just blow away rather quickly, can't they, GIR?" he said, patting GIR's mayonnaise-stained head. GIR went "Da'wwwww…." And snuggled into Zim's claws.

_1:00_

"Yes, I suppose everything in this universe is like that. So easily destroyed, and so easily forgotten," he continued, talking to nobody in particular.

_:45_

"And what does it all mean, in the end? What does it matter? We built this Irken empire with the sweat and tears of our own bodies. But in the end, who will remember the Empire when, and not if, it falls?"

_:30_

"Who will remember anything, for our lives are meaningless in the long run. The universe is quadrillions upon quadrillions of years old. In a billion years, who will remember the fifty-year lifespan of a single being?"

_:20_

"Well, GIR, I guess its time for me to meet my eternity." GIR smiled and cheered.

_:15_

"I just want to say, 'Hi, eternity, it's a good day to meet you. Oh, where are my manners? I should introduce myself! How are you, eternity?'"

_:5_

"My name is Zim."

_:0_

_click!_

-BOOM-


	6. Funeral

CHAPTER THREE:

"Funeral"

or

"The Shortest Chapter Ever"

The instant he heard the distant rumble of explosion, Dib knew something was wrong. Both he and Gaz looked at each other, and for the first time in his entire life, Dib saw traces of fear in Gaz's eyes. They both dashed out the door and down the street.

When they reached the cul-de-sac where Zim's base was, a grisly sight greeted them. Everything in the cul-de-sac was untouched, but the space between two of the houses where Zim's base had once stood, as well as the two houses themselves had been transformed into a large hole. Dazed neighbors, and residents of the two destroyed houses were sitting on the street, as though unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Huh, look at that," said one of them.

Did was frantic. What had Zim done? He ran to the edge of the hole, where he found GIR rolling happily in one of the many fires that dotted the lot.

"YAY!!! It BURNS!!!" he yelled gleefully

Dib looked down into the hole. All he could see was fire and twisted pieces of metal everywhere. The wreckage itself looked like a maze of tunnels and fires. It really wasn't that far down, only a hundred feet. He climbed down, and Gaz followed him, looking more and more insecure by the minute.

Dib called Zim's name, but the only answer was the roar of flames.

Dib stayed there for hours, searching through the wreckage for Zim, but to no avail. Gaz walked around in a quiet daze. To them, everything seemed so unreal.

In the end, they never found Zim. The explosion had destroyed the body. Dib took GIR home. The litte robot cried and cried for 'masta' but 'masta' never came.

* * *

The three of them had a funeral for Zim, and it was a small affair. Just a small tombstone with Zim's name on it. Nothing more. Dib felt that he had to say something, as they stood there in the cemetery, next to the grave of Dib's mother. He felt that there was something that needed to be confessed, or some small honor that he had to give Zim, his greatest rival. But he could not find the words. 

"Zim," he began, "I, uh, put your tombstone next to my mother, because she is the only other person besides you and Gaz that I ever really…um… respected… I just don't know what else to say."

He turned to walk away "c'mon guys." GIR followed him, skipping happily, all sadness forgotten. Only Gaz stayed behind at the makeshift grave.

"Zim," she said. She knelt on the ground.

Her eyes began to burn uncomfortably.

"I don't know what happened to you that day, but I know how you must have felt."

A single tear ran down her cheek and dropped onto the tombstone


	7. Two Years Later

CHAPTER FOUR:

"Two Years Later"

Tallest Red and Purple were in their private dining suite on the Massive, just sitting down to a huge feast of snacks. Mountains of potato chips and popcorn (and many many more kinds of snack foods) were piled on the large table, that was meant to fit up to thirty Irkens, but at the moment was only serving two. Red popped the cork on one of his more finer Irken wines, and poured a glass for him and Purple.

"Ahhh! I have been saving this wine for a while now. Bloshtacknard, Irken year, 2552, I believe. Aged to perfection," he said as he sniffed the exquisite spirit.

"And it gets you good and DRUNK!!!" yelled Purple.

Red rolled his eyes and continued, saying "I have been saving this for a great celebration, and I think that this qualifies. It has now been two years since Zim killed himself and destroyed his base. Two years of peace and quiet for the two of us. And we have gotten a lot done in these past two years. We have established our great Council, we have done away with the rest of Invaders, who may have posed a threat to us, and we have finally finished building our great Empire. We did it all in two years, my friend. How easy it was without Zim messing us up all the time."

"Yeah, and constantly distracting us," Purple chimed in.

"Yes, that too."

The two of them sat back, enjoying the snacks and wine.

Suddenly, a chime went off on the loudspeakers. This was the signal that the great Council Meeting was to start. The two Tallest stood up and left the room, moving to the private communications suite.

The private communications suite was a small dimly lit room with a huge screen on one of the walls (much like that of many Earth movie theatres). Above the screen was a large camera. It was from this room that the Tallest could speak with the Council, who were stationed on Conventia.

The screen flickered to life, and the council appeared onscreen before the Red and Purple, sitting at a large table in the great Convention Hall with their daily reports for the day. There were only four members on the Council, each picked by the Tallest for their dedication and loyalty. The Tallest could not afford to trust anyone anymore. Not after recent events.

Red looked out at the four members, and smiled. Each of them was perfect at what they did. That was what made them invaluable.

There was Fin, the Head of the Law Enforcement. His detective skills made him perfect for his job. There had been many times where citizens of the Empire had tried to resist the power of the Tallest. Foolish Irkens they were, for when Fin was put to the job of discovering them, he did it in just under a day.

Then there was Del. She was an old Irken female whose demeanor was the softest of the four members. The Tallest had agonized over whether or not to choose her. She was very soft, and the Tallest did not like this. They could not have a Council member who would shrink back from doing dirty work. But they chose her in the end, because of her mind. She was the most brilliant of all the leading Irken scientists, which made her perfect for the job they gave her: Head of Scientific Research.

The third Irken on the Council was Proth. As one of the leading minds in Irken (as well as Blorch and Vortian) psychology, he was best suited as the Head of Propaganda. He was absolutely brilliant when it came to the subject. He had been an invaluable asset for the Tallest at the time of their ascension to leadership, because of his way with words. It was said that he could convince you of anything, just by the use of his voice.

The final member of the Council was an Irken named Creed. He was a creature who seemed to have no morals whatsoever. He had no qualms at all with killing torturing and maiming prisoners, and was completely at ease when it came to warfare. This made him perfect as the Head of Public Relations. His only job was to spy on the citizens of the Empire, and kill those who seemed even remotely opposed to the Tallest. And he happily did so.

The Tallest gazed at the screen for a moment, and then Red spoke up.

"Council, you may give your report for the day."

Del spoke first.

"My tallest, I have some good news to report. One of my lead scientists has come up with a recipe for the perfect snack food, which has been sent to your cooks aboard the Massive. They will no doubt be preparing some for you soon."

Purple giggled gleefully. Del squinted slightly and continued.

"And I am happy to report that all of our studies on the effects of nanotechnology on Irken DNA is finished. You have been sent detailed reports of our findings. If I may, my Tallest, I wish to voice my opinion on this subject."

Red nodded for her to continue.

"It is in my professional opinion," she began, "that what you plan to use this nanotechnology for is both dangerous and foolish. We know full well what will happen if you unleash this technology on the population. We know full well what to expect. I do not think, however, that it is morally just-"

"Spare me your moral opinions, Del," cut in Red, "they are irrelevant. What we command, is what you shall do."

"Apologies, my Tallest," she said, bowing her head.

Creed spoke next, saying "My Tallest, random wiretaps and surveillance show us that a lot of citizens are talking about the shortage of food, snacks, to be precise. It would appear that last time you stocked up the side pods on the Massive with more snacks, you left several colonies without food, and many died. Irkens are beginning to speak out more and more against the Empire Regime. I can't kill them fast enough. If word spreads, we could have a full scale revolution."

Red nodded. "What are we doing about this, Proth?"

"Tonight I will go on the Irken Televised Broadcast and report that the Armada needs more supplies in order to fight a war in another galaxy, and that if we don't the safety of the Empire could be put in danger. I think that this could quell any uprising."

Purple leaned over to Red saying, "That guy scares me. For a moment, I actually thought that we were fighting in another galaxy."

Red snorted, and then motioned for the Council to continue, but there was nothing more to report. Red then closed the meeting.

"My friends, you have done well for today. Our Empire shall remain intact, and whats more, every day we grow more powerful. With the technologies Del has finally finished and given to us, soon our plans together shall be complete, and no race shall ever stand against us again. With that, I leave you. The Empire prevails!"

And the four members replied, "The Empire Prevails!"

The screen winked out.


	8. An Earthly Interlude

CHAPTER FIVE:

"An Earthly Interlude"

In order for me to continue the story of the Empire and its greatest enemy, I must first narrate a couple small (yet no less important) events that happened on Earth two years later.

It is an interesting fact that Irken years and Earth years are about the same. This is due to the fact that the sun that Irk revolves around is almost exactly as Earth's sun. To be precise, one Irken year is about 1.002 Earth years. So when two Irk years passed, as was told in the previous chapter, about 1.004 Earth years passed. Dib was now at the age of thirteen and was a freshman in Hi-Skool. Gaz, at the age of twelve, was beginning eighth grade, her final year at Skool.

To say that Zim's death changed Dib and Gaz would be a gross understatement. The brother and sister were so shaken by his suicide that the two of them would not come out of their rooms for weeks after. Not that anyone would have noticed. Their father was always gone from home, and none of the kids in Skool really knew the two very well at all.

When finally the two had composed themselves enough to leave their rooms, they emerged into the world completely different.

And then two years passed, and we find them older, wiser, but not much happier. For some reason, Zim's death had changed the way they looked at life. For Dib, it was like loosing a best friend. Zim had never been a friend of his, yet he had been the only one who even recognized that Dib existed, and was intelligent. And on that day that Zim was delivered back to his house by the Swollen Eyeball, Dib had dared hope that if Zim was no longer a threat, he could possibly be a friend. Gaz was shaken by Zim's death for the simple reason that he had died. It had shown Gaz that death was a very real thing, and could happen to anybody.

But I digress.

There are two very important things that happened on Earth two years (nearly to the day) after Zim killed himself.

The first thing that happened was the disappearance of some of Professor Membrane's equipment. Professor Membrane had noticed that his new shielding technology was missing, as well as his prototype hyperdrive. He thought nothing of it. He had many rivals in the field of science. Especially the devious Professor Cytoplasm. Professor Membrane merely shrugged, thinking that a few missing hyperdrives was no matter. He could always make sure.

The second thing that happened is that Dib tried to kill himself also.

* * *

Gaz had come home that day to find the house very quiet. This in itself was unusual. Dib's Hi-Skool always finished about a half hour before her's. As usual, she had kicked the door in, since both her hands were busy playing her Gameslave. To her surprise, the television was not on. She shrugged and continued playing games. But as time went on, she realized that there was a deathly silence in the house.

Worried, she climbed the stairs to see if Dib was asleep. Still playing her Gameslave, she pushed the door of Dib's room open with her foot and beheld a grisly scene.

She screamed, and dropped her Gameslave.

Dib was lying spread-eagled on his bed, his left arm dangling over the side and dripping blood onto the carpet. In his right arm, he held a razor. There seemed to be blood all over the bed linens.

"DIB!!!!!!!" screamed Gaz.

Her Gameslave lay on the floor on its side, its screen taunting, 'GAME OVER, YOU'RE DEAD! YOU LOSE, SUCKER!' but she did not see. All she could see was Dib lying on his bed, draining his life all over the carpet.

She ran to him, and hugged him asking why, why would he do that. Then she realized he was still breathing. She thought it was a miracle. She stood up and ran downstairs to the phone, dialing 9-1-1. She screamed into the receiver at an emergency technician, saying that her brother had attempted suicide and was still alive, and no her fucking father was not home, just get here now.

They arrived in less than five minutes with blood transfusions and bandages. They lifted Dib into the ambulance, and Gaz rode in the back with him, holding his hand and silently crying.

It was five hours before Dib woke up in the hospital at eight o'clock. His first thought was _What the hell am I doing here,_ and his second thought was _What is Gaz doing here?_

Gaz had been sitting there for the entire five hours. She did not have her Gameslave, and was simply sitting there and staring at her brother. When he opened his eyes, she let out a breath of relief. Dib raised his left arm and looked at the tightly wrapped bandages around it. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't thought about killing himself. Those times were before Zim's death. And that had seemed so long ago.

"Dib."

He jerked his head around to see Gaz staring at him with her eyes wide open.

"Hi, Gaz," he said weakly.

Gaz's eyes squinted and she growled angrily. She flung herself at him, beating on his chest with her fists and screaming.

"You asshole! You goddamn Asshole!" she cried.

Soon her screams turned to tears and her punches grew weaker as she cried into his chest.

"You buh-bastard," she managed to stutter weakly through her tears, "H-How could you do this to me? Do you have any idea what would happen to me if you duh-duh-DIED?" She hugged him tightly.

Dib hugged back, whispering apologies through his tears. They both fell asleep holding each other.

The next day the hospital released Dib, and the two of them walked home together, perhaps closer as siblings than they had ever been. When they reached home, the found their garage door blown off it's hinges.

Dib ran in to find that Tak's ship was gone. He had been keeping it in his garage, hoping to someday repair it and use it to fly, but now it was stolen. Dib thought that perhaps one of his father's rivals had stolen it. No matter. He was alive, and that was all that mattered.


	9. The Bowels of Conventia

A/N: I have been getting a lot of comments and PM's about the conflict of Dib's age compared to his grade level. I would just like to say this: When I entered High School (9th Grade), I was thirteen. And no, I did not skip a grade. So that is the age that I made Dib for his high school experience. If this just bothers you, I guess I could change it, but remember that I am writing certain facts according to my own experiences, so cut me some slack.

Also!!! Remember, most of the chapters in this story are filled with homages and references. You just gotta catch 'em all!!! Congrats to Zim'sMostLoyalServant for being the first to point out the references to "V for Vendetta." Although, with a title like "Z for Zim," I don't know how anyone couldn't have realized this… maybe they just didn't comment on it…

…which brings me to my final point: If you see a reference, homage, or parody, acknowledge it in your comments so I can see who has the most in the end!!!

* * *

CHAPTER SIX:

"The Bowels of Conventia"

It was in the Convention Hall on Conventia that the great Council of four Irkens met, the very same place where the Tallest had held the Great Assigning little over two years earlier. Yet it is also on Conventia, and to be more specific, the city-ghetto of Loondin, that we find the next character in our little story. She is a brave and heroic female Irken just barely past her adolescent years in Irken society. Many know her as Tak. I suppose that one way one could describe her is 'dangerously beautiful.' She is a pretty female indeed, but great ferocity lies behind her fair countenance.

There were very few beings in the universe that knew that Tak had psionic powers. Yes, Tak had the ability to manipulate the more weak-minded individuals and bend their minds to her will.

It would be later that the Tallest would declare that any Irken with such abilities were a danger and a threat to the safety of the Empire, and give the executive order to destroy them all.

But that will be narrated shortly. What is important is Tak.

As Tak ran from rooftop to rooftop in the large city of Loondin, fleeing from the law enforcement Irkens, she thought about how things had gotten to be the way they were.

* * *

She supposed it had all began with Zim's death two years before. After news of Zim's cowardly suicide reached the ears of every Irken colony in the far reaches of space, there was much rejoicing. There were few Irkens who would mourn the loss of Zim. In fact, the only Irken who was unhappy whatsoever was Skoodge. And unhappy he was. He did not hesitate to voice his opinions about Zim's death. But nobody paid attention to him, and he eventually quieted down. 

Within the first week after Zim's death, the Tallest established the Great Council, a council of Irkens whom the Tallest trusted above all.

Within the first month after Zim's death, the Tallest gave the executive order to move all the non-irken citizens who were not enslaved or part of work forces to Conventia. On Conventia, any Irkens who were citizens were moved to different planets. The Tallest kept a contingent of Irken Law Enforcement on Conventia, but otherwise the planet was devoid of Irkens. At the time, Tak had been living on Vort, and felt that this did not concern her. She did not care what happened to any of the prisoners of war. Vortians, Blorch-rats, none of them mattered. She had watched on her television as all the different species who had been conquered during Operation Impending Doom Two were transported to ghettos on Conventia. The Tallest had explained that such matters were important to Empire security. Tak had shrugged it off at the time. What did she care for such matters?

But then had come the Day of Recall. For some reason, the Tallest had decided to call back all the Invaders of Operation Impending Doom Two. All the Invaders were fired, and ordered to return to Irk. Upon returning they were all arrested and thrown into prisons. Tak watched on the television, horrified, as one by one her idols were imprisoned. There sentence? The Tallest would not say, commenting (once again) only that such matters pertained to the "security of the Empire." Tak could barely believe what she heard. The most loyal servants of the Empire threatening the security of the Empire? Preposterous! Their jobs were to expand the empire, not threaten it!!! She had noticed many disgruntled Irkens grumbling about it the next day at work.

But things got much worse than that.

One day the Tallest spoke on the Irken Televised Broadcast Channel. They were announcing the unveiling of a new PAK control center, which would be built inside the Convention Hall on Conventia. Tak had watched on her television as reporters took shots of the Convention hall, focusing in on the red robot that sat above the entrance proclaiming in a loud voice, "Galactic Conquest is NEAR! Galactic Conquest is NEAR!" That very same day, she noticed that all the Irkens she knew that were dissatisfied with the way the Empire was treating the Invaders had quieted down. In fact, all complaints against the Empire government seemed to die down.

And then the weird things began happening. All the Irkens she knew began to practically sing praises about the government. Everyone began acting differently. All the Irkens who had been previously depressed or angry became happy and carefree. All the workers at her research facility began to work overtime, saying that they wanted to give back to the Great Empire what it had given to them.

"Ask not what the Empire can do for you, but what you can do for the Empire," one of her friends had told her one day.

Tak quickly became confused. Was she the only one who saw the flaws in the government?

Then one day, that disgustingly fat Irken, Proth, appeared on the Broadcast again, proclaiming in loud, fiery speeches that all Irkens who had psionic powers were defective, and must be terminated immediately. And then the listed some names. Tak was on that list, and she wondered how they had gotten her name. That day, they came for Tak. All the Irkens who had once been her friends and acquaintances appeared at her front door with laser guns and energy swords, shouting "Destroy the Defective!"

She had barely escaped that day in her ship. As she was flying out of the hanger, her communications systems alerted her of an incoming message. When she opened up her comm. relay, Tallest Red appeared onscreen, saying that she was in direct violation of the Irken laws, and now had a bounty on her head.

"Everyone will be looking for you, Tak. And you cannot trust anybody now, for what Irken can resist the call of money and snacks?" he had said through a mouthfull of chips.

Tak had flown off of Vort as fast as her little ship could carry her. She went to the only place where there were the fewest Irkens: Conventia.

And that was where she had made a new life.

* * *

As Tak ran from roof top to rooftop, thinking about how she had gotten to be where she was, Law Enforcement Irkens chased her. Tak mentally kicked herself (which actually does hurt if you have psionic powers) for being so stupid and letting them see her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that they were still running after her. She decided there were too many to try her mind trick. She couldn't use her power on more than three people at a time without becoming incredibly tired. And there were at least ten of the bastards chasing her. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" she muttered to herself.

She afraid that if she dove into one of the manholes in the street and into the sewer, that they would follow her to her hideout in the sewers. She could not afford that, so her only option was to somehow lose them so she could slip into the sewers unnoticed.

They had recognized her almost immediately. She had only gone aboveground to gather some food, but she didn't pay enough attention, and now here she was, running for her life.

Not looking, she jumped from one of the rooftops towards another. She didn't realize that the distance between the two buildings was bigger than she had expected. She missed the next rooftop by about one whole foot and fell to the ground.

It wasn't too bad of a fall, but it hurt a lot. She fell and hit the stone alleyway hard, and got up almost immediately. Her PAK was already healing the cuts and bruises that were all over her body.

Looking around, she grimaced in despair. It seemed that the Law Enforcement had called in reinforcements. There was now about fifteen of them, closing in on her from both sides of the alleyway.

And now it seemed that there was no way out.


	10. Zeta

A/N: Once again, it's Zim'sMostLoyalServant with the answers. He pwned all of you, in terms of finding homages. In fact, he pwned so much that he found some that even I didn't realize were in there. No, sorry, no X-Men homages here. Maybe later though…

… Anyways, YES! The quote that Zim'sMostLoyalServant pointed in his comment out is in fact from John Fitzgerald Kennedy's famous Inaugural Speech.

So that brings me to the conclusion that he is more superior (while not [of course as superior as ME) than the rest of you.

You should have tried harder…

And yes, the previous line is an homage to The Nightmare Begins. If you don't realize this, then why are you reading IZ fanfics???

But I ramble too much…

Oh, and just a side note to Microwaved Noodles about your comment: Sorry!!!! I just can't help myself!!!!! I like exclamation points too much!!!!!!!!! I like 'em a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways!!!! ON!!!! WITH!!!! THE!!!!!! SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(exclamation points rule the universe!!!!!!!!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

woah, that's a long author's note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHAPTER SEVEN:

"Zeta"

Tak once again (painfully) mentally kicked herself. As she looked around herself, she swore under her breath. There was no way out of this situation except by force. And as the fifteen Law-drones closed in on her, she saw that it would be a hard battle out. She quickly dropped into a low fighting stance, centering her weight between both her feet. Years of living as one of the few pretty female Irkens in a research facility full of lonely and desperate male scientists had taught her much about defending herself. She took in the scene with quick glances left and right. She was boxed in, but the Law-drones could only come at her a few at a time, since the alleyway was so narrow. She smiled. This was acceptable. She could fight with these odds.

"Hello, there, missy," spoke up what appeared to be the head Law-drone. "No need to fight, my litte pretty, now is there? Besides, if you struggle, we'll only make your pain worse."

Tak kicked him in the face and he staggered back, one of his large Irken eyes stained with a bootprint. He got up squinting.

"You little bitch! You fucking little _whore!_" he yelled.

_Well, so much for sweet-talking, eh?_ Tak thought.

The Law-drones closed in tighter, but warily this time. They been told that Tak possessed psionic powers, not fighting skills. But they still outnumbered her by a lot.

I could continue forever praising how well Tak defended herself against the Law-drones, but that is not the point of this chapter in our little story. Simply put, Tak was no match for fifteen of Conventia's finest Law-drones. And in the end, they had her bound and gagged and lying at the feet of the head Law-drone.

"Heh-heh," giggled he giggled. "We're gonna have some fun aren't we boys?"

The rest of them laughed also.

Tak watched fearfully, all hope in her eyes lost, as the head Law-drone began to unzip his military-issue pants. She knew what was coming next, but she also knew that no action she took could prevent it. They would finish with her, and then they would destroy her. She slowly began to accept this fact as the Law-drones closed in on her.

But of course it would be at this exact moment that the crux of this chapter would make it's grand entrance.

And a grand entrance it was, indeed.

"Good evening, gentle-irkens. It would appear that Loondin's finest are out on the prowl tonight. And who might I greet for this pleasant visit upon my humble streets?" the voice rang out in the back of the alleyway.

The head Irken stood up, zipping up his pants and drawing his blaster. "Who the hell is that? More to the point, WHAT the hell is that?"

There, standing before them was the famous Tallest Spork. Well, it wasn't actually Spork. It was really an irken in a Tallest suit with a Spork mask. But it was so convicing a costume that for an instant the Law-drones actually thought it was a Tallest, until they realized that the mask never stopped smiling, even when the voice behind it began talking.

It spoke in a voice that was both refined and menacing, its mask continuing to smile broadly.

"Ah, captain Dirk, I presume? And what have we here, boys? Another lawbreaker being taught a lesson? Naughty, naughty young Law-drones! Harassing a woman so? I might have to teach you a lesson yourself!"

As it spoke, it drew an energy sword which activated with a loud _Buzz!_

The head Law-drone, now identified as Captain Dirk raised his blaster.

"Yore no Tallest! Who are you? Identify yourself!" he yelled.

The irken in the costume moved so swiftly that it wasn't until Captain Dirk's head had rolled a few feet before the rest of the Law-drones realized anything happened. And by then, it was too late. Before any of them could even think to draw their weapons, all fourteen of the remaining Law-drones were beheaded and the costumed irken was standing over their bodies breathing somewhat heavily, and drenched in oily irken blood.

Tak crawled over to one of the bodies and grabbed a knife from its belt. She quickly used it to cut her bonds on her arms and remove the gag from her mouth. The masked irken heard this and turned around, sheathing his energy sword. Tak grabbed a gun from another dead body and held it up at him, fear obviously showing in her eyes.

The voice behind the smiling Spork mask spoke calmingly.

"I assure you, I mean you no harm," he said.

"Who are you?" asked fearfully.

"Who…" the smiling man mused, "'Who' is the form following the function of 'What.' And _what_ I am is an irken in a mask."

Tak lowered her gun and squinted quizzically at the masked irken. "Oh, I can see that," she said.

"Of course you can," said the smiling irken, seeming to smile all the more, "I am not doubting your powers of observation. I am merely remarking on the paradox of asking a masked irken _who he is._"

"Oh…right…" answered Tak, both bewildered and amused. There followed an awkward silence

"But I am forgetting my manners!" said the smiling irken, "We are not properly introduced! I suppose we would normally exchange names, but there is a slight problem there."

Tak frowned.

"You see," he continued, "I haven't one. But you may call me 'Z.'"

"Oh…I see…" said Tak. Then she began to say something else. "My name is Ta-"

"Tak, yes, I know," Z interrupted. " In fact, I know all about you. I know that you are a wanted criminal. I know that the price for your head is one that no irken in their right mind would pass up."

Tak stood up straight. "So, what, are you going to turn me in?"

Z laughed, saying, "No, no! I have no intentions of doing so. You see, very soon, you and I are going have that in common: a price on our heads. But I digress! Tell me, Tak, do you enjoy fireworks displays?"

Tak smiled wickedly. What irken didn't like entertainment that involved fire and explosions?

"Of course," she said. "But why do you ask?"

"Well, I am about to set off a display on a scale of which I'm sure you have never seen," answered Z in his somewhat annoyingly refined prose. "And I would be delighted and honored if you would join me to view it."

Tak nodded she had nothing better to do except hide in the sewers.

Z led her to the top of a large building that looked out on the city of Loondin. Not too far away from view was the massive Convention Hall.

"Ah, the Convention Hall," said Z, "Inside that Hall lies the knew PAK control center. That devilish little thing has hampered free will since it was put there."

Tak nodded absently, saying, "I don't see any explosions."

"Your powers of observation continue to serve you well!" exclaimed Z. "But wait!" he continued, "Our little show is about to begin!"

And then he seemed to become more humble at the sight of the Convention hall. He then spoke a rhyme softly, as though muttering to himself.

_"Recall, Recall,_

_The scheme of the Tall,_

_Their selfish ambition and plot,_

_It IS my true mission,_

_That their selfish ambition_

_Shall never be forgot."_

And as he spoke, there was a distant rumble that grew from a soft murmur to a deafening cacophony of sound. The Convention Hall fell into itself as explosions from the inside demolished its supports. And suddenly, the Convention Hall faded from view as a blinding explosion replaced the space where it had once stood. The sound was inexplainably loud as the Hall was completely demolished. And when the smoke cleared, hundreds of fireworks went off all at the same time, whizzing and popping and swirling and flying into the air in a brilliant display of color.

Tak's mouth dropped open.

"That's… the Convention Hall!" she exclaimed, "That was… Did you do that?"

Z looked over at her, his plastic face smiling broadly.

"I did," he answered simply.

"So that's what you meant, a price on your head. You're insane! The Tallest will be so angry about this! I…did you really do that? Really?"

Z laughed and nodded. He looked back at the fireworks display, which had begun to die away.

"Yes, beautiful 'tis it not?" he said.

Suddenly, he rose.

"Come with me, Tak," he began, "The play that I have been writing for so long has begun. We have just witnessed the overture."

"What are you talking about?" asked Tak.

"The first act begins, Tak," he answered.

"What?" she said.

"All the universe is a stage, Tak and you and I and everyone are the actors. We all have our predetermined lines and motions. But how we interpret them is up to us as actors. So, come with me!" he said.

Tak followed him, asking one last question: "Why am I so important to you?"

And the smiling mask answered, "What better have you got to do? Go back to your sewers?"

Tak smiled and followed him.


	11. The Shot Heard 'Roud The Galaxy

A/N: It would appear that a few more people are responding to my homages, but Zim'sMostLoyalServant comes in first place again for this chapter, not only finding them all, but also finding them all first.

Not that it matters, anyway. It's just a trivial little game…

Oh, and to answer a few PM questions:

-Yes, this fanfic will be based quite heavily on V for Vendetta, hence the title of the fanfic: Z for Zim.

-Yes, 'Z' is an original character made up by ME. Well, not too original. Let's just say he is an original character based on an unoriginal idea.

-Yes, I love exclamation points!!!!

-And no, there will be no ZaDr. If you like ZaDr, then you should look at the fanfiction author, Sasha Marie. I once wanted to write Invader Zim romances, but after reading her stories, I decided not to because comparatively, she is a Goddess, and I am a disgusting slave-meat.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT:

"The Shot Heard 'Round the Galaxy"

To say that the destruction of the Convention Hall changed the lives of many would be a gross understatement. The fact is, the moment the Convention Hall was destroyed, nearly every irken in the Empire felt something. For each irken results varied. Some became inexplicably giddy, while others lapsed into despair.

All around the Galaxy came reports of suicides, and riots in normally peacefully areas of the Empire. Whole cities suddenly took to the streets, and ran about for no reason.

And when news of this reached the Tallest's ears, they demanded to know what was happening.

"Council, you have had four hours, and you better have results!" Red nearly screamed at the screen in his private communications suite. Purple stood next to him, looking equally distressed.

The council was meeting in Fin's house, as the destruction of the Convention hall had left them without their normal location. Fin was the only irken who possessed more advanced communication technology required to talk to the Tallest.

"We demand to know what has happened!" shouted Purple.

Fin noted that the two Tallest were without their normal amount of snacks. That was certainly odd. The council almost never saw the two not stuffing their faces with chips and popcorn. Fin decided not to bring this up. It appeared that Red and Purple had changed quite a bit since the council had last met. They looked… haunted.

"Mr. Creed?" Red indicated for Creed to give his report.

"The Convention Hall area has been quarantined, and all significant witnesses have been detained. But, as you know, none of the citizens on Conventia, aside from the Law-drones, are irken, and therefore are useless to us. We can't get any information out of them, mostly because some of them don't speak any languages that we know. I managed to get some pictures of our Law-drones in action from our security cameras. The young female that they were detaining has been identified as the defective: Tak. The attacker has not been identified. Here is a picture of the attacker."

Creed held up a photo of the irken that had attacked the Law-drones.

Tallest Red and Purple screamed aloud when they saw the smiling face of Tallest Spork in the picture.

"No! It's not possible! He's dead!" cried Red. Purple just cowered, shivering in the corner.

Fin decided it was time to speak up.

"My Tallest, that is a man in a costume. He has been identified as codename: 'Z.' We do not know who he really is, but we are currently working several leads. The fact that he wears a Spork mask makes eye-scanning useless. Where and how he got the mask and Tallest suit is unknown. He may have even made it himself."

Tallest Red regained his composure. "It would appear, Fin, that your skills as head of the Law Enforcement need some reconsidering. From now on, your only job is to find out all you can about this 'Z' and bring him to justice. Creed, you are now head of Law Enforcement. Make sure that this does not happen again."

Creed nodded as Fin bowed his head in embarrassment. Creed continued with his report.

"We have also doubled our random sweeps and wiretaps of all communication relays. We have shown that about ninety-eight percent of the Empire population is talking about the recent explosion."

Red swung his gaze towards Proth. "And what are we doing about this, Proth?"

Proth leaned forward and began to outline his plan. "We are calling it a scheduled demolition. Several scientists have been bribed and persuaded to go on Television and explain how structurally unstable the Convention Hall was."

Red nodded. "Good. I want you personally to speak to the Empire tonight. You should conclude that the new Convention Hall that we build in its place will stand as a symbol of the Empire's increasing strength."

Proth nodded. "It shall be as you say, my Tallest."

"Mr. Fin?" said Red looking expectantly at Fin.

"I have already told you how much we know about Tak, and the other irken, codename: 'Z.' I have little else to report. We found the launch site of the fireworks display. However, despite the high level of sophistication, the fireworks appear to be homemade, and therefore untraceable."

Del gave her report next.

"The experiments with the nanites we developed have begun. Nanotechnology has been introduced into select areas of the population. It has proved useful. As always, I advise against using nanites for the purposes you have outlined."

"We will not hear anymore of your disgusting 'advice' about nanotechnology, Miss Del!" scolded Purple, who was no longer cowering in the corner, "Your weak-minded morals are beginning to annoy me."

Del hung her head. "Yes, my Tallest."

"Gentle-irkens, this is a test," spoke Red, "Moments such as these are tests of our strength as leaders. To fail is to bring doubt into the citizens of this empire, and dissolve everything we have fought for. Doubt will plunge this Empire into chaos, and I WILL NOT ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN!!! I want this disgusting irken found, and I want him to realize the true power of the Empire!"

The council all nodded in unison.

With that, I leave you," concluded Red. And purple fairly shouted, "The Empire Prevails!"

And the council members responded, "The Empire Prevails!"

And the meeting ended.

As Red and Purple walked out, Purple shuddered.

"I never thought that I would see Spork's face ever again."

Red shook his head. "Me neither. Besides, whoever this 'Z' is, he is obviously trying to send a message. Why else would he dress up like Tallest Spork?"

"Send us a message? What does that mean?

Red nervously opened a bag of chips.

"What does it mean? It means that whoever he is, wherever he is, and whatever he is, he knows."

Red paused and looked back into the Communications Suite at the blank black screen.

"He knows."

* * *

As the screen went black, the four Councilmembers sat back on Fin's couch and thought about what they had just seen. The tallest had seemed so blown away by the events of the past few hours. Fin suddenly spoke up. 

"What exactly are you doing with the nanites, Del?"

Del hesitated, and Creed spoke up for her.

"That's classified information, that is. For certain eyes and audio receptors only. And since it's obvious that the Tallest don't trust you, neither should we."

Proth nodded in agreement.

"We all have our secrets, Fin. There are certain things that the Tallest don't trust with you. And don't go poking your little nose in such matters, either. Unless you have a deathwish, that is."

As Proth, Creed, and Del left, Fin looked back at the black screen, thinking about what had just transpired.

Fin was youngest member of the council by at least fifty years. He was the only member of the council who couldn't remember a time before the reign of Tallest Red and Purple. He had been born only months after Tallest Spork had been killed. He had only been picked for the council because he had the right friends in the government. He didn't know why the Tallest were so shaken up by the fact that this 'Z' person had been dressed up like Spork. It appeared that the other Council members knew, but wouldn't tell him. And he didn't dare get nosy about things he wasn't supposed to know.

Nosy irkens usually became dead irkens.

* * *

As Tak followed Z through the streets, she wondered what would become of her. She didn't know why Z had taken a liking to her, or why he thought he needed her for some reason. But at least she would have some company. Crazy company was better than no company. 

She followed Z down one of the manholes in the street.

"You live in the sewers too, Z?" she asked.

"In a manner of speaking. But we are first going to where you live, so you may retrieve your personal items, as well as your SIR unit."

"Do you know where I live?" asked Tak.

"I know you live in the sewers, but not exactly where. You may lead from here on out."

Tak nodded and led the way through the maze of tunnels that she knew quite well. She knew all the sewer areas in the city, for this was her home. And a sad home it was. She had eventually gotten used to the smell of waste, but it had taken a long time. As she walked, she talked with Z. It was certainly odd, leading a Tallest through the sewers. She knew that he wasn't in fact a Tallest, but the costume was quite convincing. Tak was considered rather tall for an irken, but Z stood nearly twice as tall has she. Every once in a while she would glance quickly back at his painted artificial smile and wonder what sort of face lay beneath it.

Eventually they came to a small den, where many different pipes poured into a singe body of liquid, and flowed down one single pipe. In this clearing, was Tak's home. There was little here, just a bed and a table that she had somehow stolen, and the small ship that Tak had come to this planet on. Next to the bed was a large pile of food, also stolen. And on the bed sat a small robot. Upon seeing Z enter behind Tak, the little robot's eyes flashed and it jumped off the bed, many little guns coming out of its now-open head. It's body flashed bright red.

"No, no, Mimi, this is a friend. His name is Z."

The little robot retracted its guns and cocked its head to one side. It suddenly decided to be friendly and waved happily at Z. Z laughed.

"What a delightful little SIR unit you have here. I have never seen one that displays such emotion."

Tak nodded. "I made her myself, out of scrap parts. I even constructed her brain myself. She is not factory-made like most SIR units, so it stands to reason that she'll be a little less than normal. But I like the emotion, it makes her all the more interesting and fun to be with in times like this."

"Ah, yes," replied Z, "company can mean the difference between life and death in lonely times. But let us stray from this depressing train of conversation, and retrieve what items you need. I assume that you would wish to take your ship and SIR with you, but is there anything else you want?"

Tak shook her head.

"Very well then," he continued, "Let us use your ship to make the trip to my home easier. How did you get the ship down here, anyways?"

Tak laughed mirthlessly. "You don't want to know."

As it was, the sewer was just big enough to accommodate the small ship. Z got behind the controls, and began to fly the ship somewhat slowly through the sewers. Tak absently looked out the window. After a while, Tak no longer recognized where they were.

"Z, we're not under Loondin anymore, are we?" she asked.

"No," replied the frozen smile, "We are not. We are headed towards the Convention hall. I assume that this ship is submersible?"

"Yeah, it can go underwater."

"Good."

Eventually, Z came to a large cavern, much like where Tak had been living. In it, many large sewer pipes poured out their waste into a large pool, about the size of an Olympic swimming pool. Z pressed a few buttons, and the ship submersed itself in the pool of waste. At the bottom of the pool, near one of the walls, Z found a large hole in the wall which he steered the ship through. After several minutes of this, the hole opened up to another pool. Z then brought the ship to the surface. As the slime oozed its way off the windows and they could see where they were, Tak gasped in wonder.

They were in a large underground cavern. From the ceiling large stalactites hung down and dripped water onto large, glittering stalagmites rising from the depths of the pool. The whole cavern sparkled wonderfully.

"It's so beautiful," said Tak.

"Ah, yes, it is my home. Perhaps you don't know this, but we are directly beneath the Convention hall, about four standard irken miles down. I found this cave by accident while I was attempting to make my home in the sewers under the convention hall. There are several exits to this place, some of which are more hidden than others. We have just entered through the most secret."

"We are under the Convention Hall? So that's how you blew it up!"

"Yes, quite. It is also useful, because I have been able to tap into their broadcast system, and watch all the television they broadcast, as well as all the communications between the Council and the Tallest."

By now, the ship had drifted to the edge of the pool, and Z opened the cockpit and stepped out. He extended a claw, and helped Tak out. They were standing on what looked like the shores of a lake, except they were underground, and the lake had sewage in it. Z led her along the shore, and into a cave, which in turn opened up into another large cavern. This one, however was lined wall to wall with books and statues that seemed to be from all the different planets in the galaxy. As Tak looked around she noticed there were several doors leading from this single cavern.

"This is a natural underground formation," spoke Z, "There are many passageways that lead to other caverns here."

He indicated the doors that she was looking at, telling where each one led.

"Kitchen, Supply Room, Communication Broadcast Room, and, of course, we are standing in the Library."

Tak asked, "How did you get all these books and things?"

"From the department of Blacklisted Materials."

Tak laughed. "You stole them from the government? I'm beginning to like you more and more by the minute. Don't you ever worry about what will happen if they find all this stuff?"

"I suppose that it won't matter. After all, I have just demolished an important government building."

Tak laughed even more. "Yeah, sure, I guess. But why do you have all this stuff?"

"That is difficult to explain. A while ago, I had a revelation. If irken entertainment was so great, why was not other culture interesting too? As you know, whenever irkens conquer a new planet, they erase all memory of that planet's culture, and force their own culture on the inhabitants. This is to unify everything."

Tak nodded, "I am aware of how they assimilate new species."

"Well, I thought, that doesn't make any sense. I looked around me and saw that this government was corrupt, as you yourself have no doubt seen. I decided that if they were wrong about how to govern, then perhaps they were wrong about culture. I stole as much as I could. And I have literature from every culture you could think of."

He walked along the shelves, indicating with a wave of his had what each section represented.

"Here is much of the literature of the planet Vort. And here, Blorch. Here is a section on Bootie Nen, and a planet that you probably don't know about, Mei-Lan. I even have things from planets not yet conquered. Here, planet Jackers, and here, Earth."

"But why would you keep this? It's so… un-irken," said Tak.

"My lady, have you seen the crimes of this government?"

Tak nodded.

"And do you agree with me that there is something wrong with this Empire?"

Tak nodded again.

"And do you agree that, perhaps, this government is wrong about how it rules people and controls their lives?"

Tak nodded and said, "I lost my faith in the Empire when the Tallest ordered that I had to be killed. I realized that there was something very wrong here."

Z bent over and stared at her face to face. "There you go!" he exclaimed gleefully, "There you go! If the government can be wrong about that, then why not can they be wrong about culture?"

He took a book down from the Blorch section.

"It is truly amazing," he said, holding up the book, "that a race so violent could have such beautiful poetry. You wouldn't expect a slaughtering rat-person to write so beautifully, but it is true."

And he read her a few lines.

And she saw that it was, indeed, beautiful.


	12. On Air

**A/N:**

-Zim'sMostLoyalServant comes in first place again, with a few runner-ups close behind! He noted that the previous chapter title was based on the first shots of a war. When I was writing the chapter, I was actually thinking about the first shots of the Battle Of Lexington And Concord, the first battle of the Civil War. However, the shot that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand has also been called the "shot heard 'rould the world," so he was correct nonetheless.

**-You might want to reread the chapter entitled "Zeta." I added something to it near the end, because I forgot about it at the time I was writing the chapter (oops! Sorry! Just read it again!).**

TO ANSWER SOME MORE PM QUESTIONS:

-For those of you who don't know, the movie V for Vendetta is based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore. Some people have been asking me if I will have homages to the graphic novel, as well as (obviously) the movie. The answer is YES. In fact, I think that very soon there will be references to the graphic novel. Let's see if you guys can catch the ones that are from the graphic novel, and maybe even tell them apart from the movie references.

-And I think that is about it…

* * *

CHAPTER NINE:

"On Air"

Tak awoke the next morning to the smell of something she did not recognize, and the sound of music that she did not recognize. She sat up and rubbed her enormous purple eyes and thought about the events of the previous day.

She was safe where she was, she knew that. She also knew that this 'Z' person, who had allowed her to live with him, was intent on taking down the government. If that was not odd enough, he dressed up as Tallest Spork. Tak did not understand the significance of this, but she knew that being so tall could be intimidating. She supposed this was why, but she was not sure.

Tak threw the covers off her bed, and followed her nose to the source of the strange smell that she had noticed earlier. As she drew closer to the source of the scent, she realized that the strange music was also getting stronger. At last, she found herself in the Library. She paused to look around, drinking up the scene with her eyes. This was a sight she would never get used to, seeing so many books from so many different cultures in one place. Moments later, she realized the strange smell, accompanied by the strange sound, were coming from the kitchen. She walked over to the door, and pushed it open. The scene that met her eyes was equally as odd as the sound and smell of the room.

Z was standing at a stove, cooking something, and bobbing his masked head in time to the music coming from a strange looking device on the counter next to him. The room was filled with the delicious scent of food. Z seemed not to notice Tak standing there, and he hummed along with the music as he flipped the strange food in the pan he was using.

But what was truly odd, was that Z was wearing a large frilly pink apron. Tak tried hard not to laugh aloud, and called his name.

"Good morning, Z." she said, smiling.

Z whipped around and beheld Tak standing in the doorway, looking at him with a bemused face and eyeing his apron.

"Ah, yes, good morning, miss Tak… you must forgive my large apron. It is the only one that I have, and I like to keep this Tallest suit as clean as I can."

Tak laughed. He looked so ridiculous in the frilly apron. Then she looked at his claws and gasped.

"Z!" she exclaimed, "You're not wearing any gloves!"

"Yes, yes," he replied absently, "I find it easier to cook when I have no gloves on it's much easier to handle the… oh… ah….I see…"

Looking down, he realized the reason for her surprise. His claws were heavily scarred pink, and had many bumps and blisters and there were parts where skin was still growing back. He turned around quickly and put on his gloves. Turning around again, he displayed his gloved claws.

"There, see? All better! I trust I haven't ruined your appetite?"

Tak sat down at the table, her eyes not leaving his gloves.

"No, no, actually I'm starving… But, what happened to your claws?"

"There was an explosion, years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago, and is ancient history for some, I'm sure. My PAK is still healing the scars. In a few month's time, the marks should all but disappear. But come, eat! Such matters are not very good meal conversation. I hope I did not ruin your appetite?"

Tak shook her head and picked up one of the strange looking foods that Z had made and tasted it.

"What is it?" she asked, finding it quite delicious. "And what is that music you are playing on that strange device over there?"

"The food is a Vortian dish that I learned to make a while ago from one of the books from the Library. The name escapes me, however. As for the music, this piece is called "The 1812th Overture," by a man from the planet Earth named Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Do you like it?"

Tak, wondering which of the two the question was directed at, answered for both.

"Yes, their wonderful."

They sat there for a while, Tak enjoying the food and music, and Z simply sitting at the table. After a few minutes, Z stood up.

"There is something that I must do today. I would like you to join me."

"Where are you going, Z?"

"Well, as I said before, the first act of my play begins. It is time to continue what I started yesterday."

Tak cocked her head.

"So it's for real, then? You're really gonna bring down the government? How certain are you that what you are doing will change anything? I mean, of course I will join you. I hate the Tallest now more than anyone. But still, how can you be certain?"

Z sighed.

"There is no certainty, Tak, only opportunity. And now the end of the Tallest's reign of terror is near. In fact, the ending is nearer than you think. All that must be done now is to choose the correct moment to _begin_."

Tak stood up, saying, "You say you want me to join you. Why? What do I matter to you?"

Z bent down and put a claw on her shoulder.

"You are so very different from all the other irkens of this empire. You have seen the underbelly of this regime, and you hate it. Unlike the other irkens, you are not ignorant of the crimes of the Tallest."

He sighed once more, saying, "People should not remain ignorant of their governments. Governments should remain ignorant of their people."

He paused and then continued.

"Perhaps you don't know the whole story, and I will no doubt tell it to you, but at least you remain aware of the horrors of this empire. Ignorance became the ultimate tool of this government, and with it they took away freedom, replacing it with a false happiness. You, however, did not feel this same happiness. That too, makes you different. It shows that you realize how imprisoned we all are as citizens."

Tak shook her head.

"But they are happy up there," she said, pointing towards the unseen surface above, "they are happy with their ignorance. How can they be imprisoned if they are content?"

"Happiness _is_ a prison, Tak. It is the most insidious prison of all."

Tak shook her head, saying, "Your fancy words and manners really do confuse me sometimes, Z."

At this, Z laughed, and then motioned for her to follow him. He led her out of the kitchen into the library, and through the library to the communications room.

The communications room was full of screens and cameras, along with other electronics. Z explained to her that through the use of the communications room he could hack any transmission sent from any planet of the empire, as well as send his own messages.

"It is here that I shall broadcast my message to all of the empire. Now that the Convention Hall has been destroyed, and the eyes of the citizens opened ever so slightly to the crimes of the Tallest, I shall see if they are willing to strive for freedom. I will need you to control the camera. And try to keep your SIR, Mimi, out of here. I am afraid that she could accidentally destroy something. Now, do exactly as I say."

Tak nodded. By Z's instructions, she manipulated the controls on the cameras while Z sat behind a plain black desk and stared into the camera. Presently, the sign above the camera that read "ON AIR" lit up, and Z began.

* * *

All around the Irken Empire, irkens who were gathered around their television sets were surprised when the screens they were watching suddenly turned to static, right in the middle of their favorite shows. All around the galaxy, voices were being raised in annoyance as pictures were lost, and the entertainment that all irkens enjoyed was halted. 

"Gods above, what the hell is wrong with the T.V…."

"Don't hit it so hard, you might break it!"

"Bloody hell, what's wrong with the telly…?"

"Right in the middle of my favorite…"

"Oh, what the hell!"

"Goddam piece of…"

"What is this junk? What's going…."

As voices were raised and tensions mounted, the screens continued to display their snowy static, until the picture finally resolved to show the smiling masked face of an irken sitting at a desk. Presently, the masked figure spoke.

"Good evening, Irken Empire!" spoke the masked irken.

" I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here this today. Allow me to first apologize for this interruption of your previously scheduled programs. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routine- the security of the familiar, and the peace of repetition. I enjoy them as much as anybody. But I thought it best for us to have a talk, a little sit-down chat, if you will."

The masked irken leaned forward.

"Are you seated comfortably?"

He waited a moment before continuing.

"Good! Spendid! Let us begin then!"

The masked irken folded his hands and let out a jolly laugh.

"Yet, once again I must apologize. I would introduce myself, but truth be told, I haven't a name. You may call me 'Z.'"

* * *

Tallest Red and Purple simultaneously sprayed the drinks they were consuming all over the service drone that had just given them food. 

Tallest Red pulled a phone down from the wall next to him and began to scream into the receiver.

"PROTH!!! WHAT IS GOING ON? I'M SITTING HERE LOOKING AT HIM ON MY T.V.!!!"

* * *

Z continued. 

"There are, of course, those who do not want us to converse. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and the Empire's finest computer hackers will soon be on their way to interrupt our little talk. And I'm sure there are many law-drones loading their weapons and looking for me."

"Why? Because while the laser gun may be used instead of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to _meaning_, and for those who will listen, the enunciation _truth_. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this Empire, isn't there?"

* * *

Proth shielded his audio receptors from the deafening voice that was screaming through his telephone. 

"You designed it yourself, my Tallest! You wanted it to be difficult to stop things from being broadcast. The fact is, this guy is better than our own hackers! We can't hack the unhackable, but somehow, _he_ can!"

"_I don't care what you can and cannot do, Proth! Just get this raving lunatic off of my television, before I-"_

Proth hung up his telephone before Red could continue. He rubbed his temples, muttering to himself that there was only so much one irken could do in a day. He looked up at the television on the wall, as the smiling irken continued.

* * *

"Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. These are what we now face as irkens, isn't it? Where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have Law-drones and uncaring leaders instigating your ignorance and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and _they will be held accountable_. In fact, let us not mince words… The Management is terrible! We've had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars, and lunatics making catastrophic decisions in the government. This is a plain fact." 

Z sat back and rubbed his masked chin thoughtfully.

"But, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look in a _mirror_."

* * *

Fin looked up from his desk at the sound of the television. He wondered why it was beginning to sound different. To his dismay, he saw Z on the screen. As he listened to the words of the masked irken, he muttered under his breath. 

"Bloody hell…" he said.

* * *

"I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? The two greatest leaders, tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork, both dead, killed by the same circumstances, and a dangerous energy-consuming monster on the loose. There were a myriad of problems which seemed to threaten your lives. But the truth is, you were ignorant. They told you that the monster was made by Zim. I tell you that is a lie. They told you they would protect you. I tell you that is a lie. They promised you order, and peace. That may be true, but their promises of freedom is a lie. Ignorance got the best of you, and in your unawareness you turned to the now Tallest Red and Purple. YOU supported them. YOU gave them the power to make your decisions for you. YOU have accepted their senseless orders without question. All you had to say was 'no.' And yet, you didn't." 

"They promised you nothing but lies, and demanded your silent and obedient consent in return. Last night, I sought to end that that Silence. Last night _I destroyed the Convention Hall_, to open your eyes and remind this Empire of what it has forgotten. Under Miyuki and Spork, the empire flourished, yet under Red and Purple, we languish in disrepair. I seek to pull us out of this void. I hope to remind EVERYONE that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than just words."

Z leaned forward and spoke intently,

"They are _perspectives._"

Z leaned back once more and held out a claw to the cameras.

"So, If you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest you allow this message to be forgotten. Simply disregard everything that I have been saying."

The claw Z was holding out balled itself into a fist, which Z shook to emphasize his words.

"But if you see as I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me, rise up, and rage against the machine of the government. Together, we can dissolve the bonds of ignorance! Together, we can free this empire and restore it to its former glory!"

Z stood up and bowed to the cameras.

"That will be all."

* * *

And all around the galaxy, screens faded to black and displayed a blood red "Z," before returning to the previously scheduled sitcoms.

* * *

As his television returned to normal, Red slammed his fist into the arm of his chair and yelled until his voice turned hoarse. When he was finished, and could not yell anymore, he placed his head in his claws and sighed. Things were beginning to fall apart. 


	13. Vertigo

A/N: A few of the references were not caught by readers, and that is to be expected. Parts of Z's conversation with Tak, as well as a portion of his address to the Empire were modeled after dialogue from the graphic novel of V for Vendetta. If you have not read this book, I highly suggest that you do, because it is not only different from the movie in terms of themes, but is also one of the greatest graphic novels I have ever read.

MORE COMMENTS ON PM'S AND REVIEW'S I'VE RECEIVED:

-A lot of people are asking about Z and Tak romance. For those of you who have seen V for Vendetta, the answer is YES, there will be some of that. Don't worry, I'm not giving away any major plot points. Though, if you have seen the movie, you probably already know what will happen.

-Thank you, Microwaved Noodles, for your excellent constructive criticism. I realized my mistake, and changed the dialogue from the previous chapter, to erase OOCness, as well as silly writing.

-I want to warn you all, there will eventually be OOCness, because that is the very nature of this story. You may have noticed, that in V for Vendetta, Adam Sutler's character changed from confident leader to sniveling crybaby over the course of the movie. Therefore, changes in character will be inevitable in my fanfic. If I do not allow some OOCness, or character change, then the story will not be able to progress, at least the way that I am writing it.

-That being said, If you see any _premature_ OOCness, warn me.

* * *

CHAPTER TEN:

"Vertigo"

Z sat on the couch in the communications room next to Tak and watched the Irken News Channel. It was very soon after Z had broadcast his message that all the news channels began dismissing it as fraudulent talk. As Z watched this particular station, he began to laugh.

"_Just minutes ago, the Empire's finest hackers were able to interrupt the previous broadcast by an unnamed terrorist calling himself 'Z.' Using the elite computer skills that were apparently superior to those of the terrorist, they stopped the broadcast before the terrorist could finish his message of hate."_

Tak shook her head saying, "Do you believe that? Who's gonna believe it? You were obviously finished, not interrupted."

"Yes, yes," answered Z, "I'm sure there are many who are beginning to feel the same way."

The news continued as Proth's face appeared onscreen and his smooth-talking voice explained everything.

"_It is important that everyone knows that we were able to stop the terrorist from delivering this hate message to everyone. We were also able to get a trace on his location. As we speak, Law-drones are on their way to find him. It can be safely said that we will catch this terrorist before he is able to destroy any more priceless buildings."_

"He's lying," said Tak, shaking her head, "I can tell."

Z looked at her. "How?" he asked.

"I don't have to be close to someone to be able to use my powers of perception. I can tell when someone is lying, just by looking at them. I developed this ability while I was working at that research facility on Vort."

Z looked back at the T.V. screen and sighed as he watched Proth spread his lies.

"There is a voice that needs silencing, if there ever was. No matter what I do, his way with propaganda will always be there to erase my efforts."

"What will you do about it?" asked Tak.

Z stood up.

"That's easy. I'm going to kill him. And I think there is no better time than the present to do so. I'm going aboveground, and I should be back presently. Now, I need you to stay here, as the very sight of your face could launch a thousand Law-drones, if you know what I mean."

Tak nodded.

Z left the communications room and walked through the library. Mimi scurried up to him, showing him the beautiful art she had made with bits of food. Z laughed and knelt down to the SIR, telling her to keep Tak company. Mimi nodded and saluted, then skipped happily away. Z shook his head, and wondered what Mimi would be like if she had the ability to talk. He stood up and entered the lift that would take him to the surface.

* * *

In the city of Loondin's police station, the wheels of justice slowly ground to a halt. Nothing was being done, but that was to be expected. There was little _to_ do. Nobody had any idea what to do, and so many just passed the time torturing the inhabitants of Conventia for fun. In the highest room of the station, two irkens were interrogating the poor pitiful form of a Blorch Rat. From the window, one could see Councilmember Proth and a Law-drone talking. It was obvious that the poor rat knew nothing, but the two irkens continued to bombard it with questions, because it was funny to see it squirm. 

"C'mon, chummy! We know you have information. This guy, Z, needs a backer, someone with the money to buy explosives and such. As it is, you're the richest creature here on Conventia. Plus, you know all about technology stuff." said the Law-drone.

"Ees no good, sir! Nothing, I know!" pleaded the Rat in his thin, raspy voice.

Proth was smiling as he said, "You do realize, that anything you tell us will be taken into consideration when you go before the Tallest, right? If you help us, there is the best of chances that you will go free. The Tallest are forgiving, my friend."

"Yoo no understan!!! I ees know nothing!!!" said the rat.

"Listen, you disgusting rat, you are beginning to annoy me. I think perhaps you need a little walk around the block. Maybe the cool air will clear your mind, and you will remember a little more. The window's over there. Get going." said Proth, indicating the window.

"You can be not serious!" the rat nearly screamed.

"Get to it, Chummy," prodded the Law-drone.

The rat climbed out the window, grumbling that he would make complaints, and that someone would be fired for this.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. We'll have the forms ready for you when you've finished walking around the building," said the Law-drone, only half serious.

"This crazy!" said the rat.

"Don't worry, the ledge is eighteen inches wide," spoke Proth soothingly, "If it was on the ground, you wouldn't think twice about it."

* * *

But the ledge wasn't on the ground. It was fifteen stories up, and the soft click of the window closing behind the rat felt like iron doors slamming shut on his life. However, Proth was right. The ledge was eighteen inches wide. If it had been on the ground, the rat would not have thought twice about it. There was no difference, really. 

Well, perhaps there were _some_ differences…

There was that sick, tingling feeling in the bottom of his feet. He wouldn't have gotten that on the ground. There was that horribly fascinating whisper echoing through his mind: _what is it like when you hit the ground from fifteen stories? Does it hurt?_

These are things that didn't occur to him when he was on the ground.

The rat walked along the ledge, hoping to find an unlocked window that he could climb back into. In his mind he attempted to silence that horrifying question, and ignore that sickly weak feeling in his feet. Rat's were not meant to climb so high. He slowly made his way across the ledge and to the corner of the building. When he reached the corner of the building, he realized something else that never occurred to him when he was on the ground.

There are always those crosswinds that howl around the edge of the tall concrete geometries. As soon as he turned the corner, he was caught in one and his grip on the building began to slip. He cried to the gods to save him, but the wind continued on its path, uncaring of whatever it buffeted. His grip failed, and he was blown backwards. In fright, he voided his bladder all over the ledge before falling.

Crosswinds. Things like that never occur to you…

until it's too late.

* * *

But he did not die. As he was falling, black gloved claws dragged him to safety. 

"Nice night, eh?" said Z, as he pulled the rat to safety.

But the rat did not hear him. He had fainted.

* * *

"I'll tell the clean-up guys to have a body bag out front tomorrow," said the Law-drone to Proth, "Looks like another case successfully wrapped up, eh, Mr. Proth? By the way, do you think that Zeekee has any thing to do with this 'Z' character, then?"

Proth laughed. "Grow up, Smood, 'course he hasn't. The stupid little rat is just some character saying the wrong things in the wrong places… Nah, I just had a bad week with the Tallest screaming about Z's broadcast. They've been giving me grief, Smood. I thought I'd just spread it around a bit."

He turned and looked out the window. "It's nothing big, anyway. There's no record us even arresting him. Anyway, who's going to care what happens to a zero like Zeekee?"

After a while, he looked down from the window at his watch.

"Well, it's been about ten minutes now," he said, "I reckon the wind would have had him off at the first corner. I suppose I better have a look…"

He opened the window and stuck his head out, glancing left and right.

"Nah, no sign of him. Looks like he decided to learn to free-style hang glide, eh? Heh, heh."

He pulled his head in and locked the window.

"Come on. Let's hit the sleeping-pallets. I've had a long day of it and if the Tallest start up their yelling again, I'm going to put a few lasers in Fin's communication equipment. On second thought, how about stopping at the mess hall for a quick bit of-"

He cut off, hearing a slight noise. He turned around to speak to the Law-drone.

"Hey, Smood, did you just hear something? A sort of cracking noise… oh, gods."

Smood was lying on the floor, his head bent at an impossible angle. In his place stood the Tall figure of Z.

"Good evening, Commander Proth," he said.

"Why do you call me that? I'm no Commander!" said Proth, terrified.

"That was your name, when we met, was it not? _Commander_ Proth. Yes, that was your name. Do you remember mine?"

"_YOU!"_ gasped Proth. "It's you…gods, it's you!"

The masked irken only nodded.

"Listen," said Proth, "I had nothing to do with… that whole… thing. That was all the tallest! I was merely a pawn. You don't want me, do you? Do you?"

Z merely pointed towards the window. Proth understood immediately.

"Oh, no. You can't want me too…"

Z shook his foreclaw in the direction of the window meaningfully.

"All right, all right," Proth said, climbing out the window. He immediately began walking along the ledge, and trying to find an open window.

After a few moments, the irken with the frozen smile closed the window with a soft _click!_ He could not abide drafts.

* * *

Of course, the drafts inside were nothing compared to the ones outside. 

Councilmember Proth was a strong irken, even for his age. Before we was appointed to the Council, he had served at an irken military research facility, and even before that, had trained in anticipation for Operation Impending Doom Two. Down to the core, he was a soldier. He had had to cope with worse things than walking on a ledge fifteen stories up. He knew he could make it, even past the crosswinds at the corner of the building.

After all, Eighteen inches was a lot of room. If he had been on the ground, he wouldn't have thought twice about it. He took a step, then another, then another. He was beginning to feel quite confident. There he was. An irken, and a ledge. Beyond the ledge was nothing. What he didn't notice, was that not far from the corner, was a slippery puddle of rat urine. Slippery puddles. Things like that never occur to you…

until it's far too late.


	14. Rising Action

A/N: It's important that you look back at the episode of Invader Zim entitled "The Trial." I am basing many of my plot points on events from this episode. Of course, we are all IZ nerds here, but for those of you who don't know a whole lot about the IZ universe, I suggest you find the script online, and read over it. It is a great episode, and I'm sad that it was never aired.

* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

"Rising Action"

Fin awoke the next morning to the ringing of his house phone. He opened his eyes and glanced at the clock next to his sleeping-pallet and groaned. It was barely past the fringes of morning. A look out the window told him that Conventia's crimson sun was only just beginning to rise. Fin lay back down, and willed the telephone to stop ringing. Squeezing his eyes shut, he muttered angrily that nobody had any right to call him so early in the morning. But the telephone just kept right on ringing, and he resigned himself to his fate. He picked up the phone, and spoke angrily into the receiver.

"What do you want?"

"_Chief Inspector," _said the irken at the other end, _"We've got a bit of a situation down at the Law Station. You had better come down here and have a look."_

Fin sighed. Bad enough that the Tallest had demoted him to Chief Inspector, now he was being woken up at hours he didn't even know existed.

"I'll be there shortly," he said. Not waiting for a response, he slammed the receiver down and put his face in his claws. He wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Fin got up and dressed himself, still only half awake. He was soon walking out of his house and into his hovercar.

* * *

There were several law enforcement hovercars surrounding the dead body on the sidewalk, keeping out citizens with prying eyes. Fin climbed out of his hovercar, and walked over to the barricade of hover-vehicles. Fin flashed his badge, and a Law-drone admitted him through the barricade. As he walked towards the body, the Law-drone told him that the dead irken had somehow fallen from the fifteenth story. Fin soon saw what it was that had caused him to be woken up so early. 

It was a messy scene that met his eyes. Even in the semi-light of morning, he could clearly see the mangled body that had smashed itself into the sidewalk. All around it were splatter stains of blood that had splashed out from the force of the impact. Fin tread carefully, so as not to slip in the oil-based irken blood. He knelt down and examined the body. At first he could not tell who it was. Apparently the head had hit the sidewalk first, and had caused all the distinct features of the irken face to be mashed together, as well as push bits of brain down into the neck. But as Fin looked closely, he realized that it was Proth. Fin dug through the body's pockets and pulled out a wallet. Inside was an identification card, which confirmed his presumption.

It was Proth, all right. But it was damn hard to tell. The force of impact had caused some of the organs in the head to be pushed to the torso and legs, as well as mangling all the distinctive features. It had also caused him to vent some his organs from his anus. There seemed to be blood oozing from every orifice of the body. Fin wrinkled his nose at the smell. One of the Law-drones had become sick at the sight, and had vomited somewhere nearby. Fin had always hated that smell.

Another Law-drone came by and told him that they had found another body.

"Up on the fifteenth floor, near the window," began the Law-drone, "we found another one. Broken neck, dead maybe minutes before this one on the sidewalk. It would appear that the attacker first killed the one upstairs, and then made this poor bugger climb out the window. We also found a puddle of slick urine on the ledge by the window. It's from a Blorch Rat, but whose we don't know. We also don't know how it got there."

Fin sighed.

"Bloody hell."

He knew exactly what had happened. It was Z again, up to no good. Fin didn't know why Z would want Proth dead, but somehow, he knew it was Z. He figured Z had gone after Proth because he was a valuable asset to the Tallest. But that also meant that he too would be a target. In fact, all the members of the council were potential targets. And this scared Fin. But Fin still didn't understand why any of this was happening. For years, no irken had spoken out against life in the Empire so vehemently.

He looked back at Proth's body. Sometime during the night, Proth had decided to violently become one with the pavement, and Fin wanted to know why.

* * *

Zeekee groaned and opened his eyes. He fully expected to be dead, smashed into the pavement outside the Law Station. To his great surprise, he found himself in a comfortable bed in a small room lit by the morning sun. Happy that he was alive, and confused as to where he was, he sat up and rubbed his beady eyes. Feeling himself all over, he came to the conclusion that he was not dreaming, or in heaven. He was him, and he was alive. 

Presently there came a slight sound of footsteps outside the door, and the door swung open to reveal Z. Zeekee knew who Z was. All the creatures of Conventia knew. Z was like a messenger from the gods to all the non-irkens. Blorch Rats, Vortians, Bootie-Nen people, Rock-people, they all knew the face of Z.

"Ah, I see our guest is awake now," said Z.

"An honor to meet Z, it ees," said Zeekee, "he who preaches the end of the Tallest."

"What's that?" spoke a voice from behind Z.

Z was so tall, that Zeekee did not see the irken standing behind him. She stepped into the room, and Zeekee realized it was Tak the 'defective' irken who had been condemned by the Tallest.

"What is that you said about Z?" she asked again.

Zeekee climbed out of the bed and bowed to them both.

"Those who live on Conventia feel the heavy hand of the Tallest each day. Enslaved by the Law-drones, and tortured we ees. When on television Z came, and spoke of the downfall of the Tallest, there was much rejoicing indeed."

Z laughed, saying, "I didn't know I had such a cult following. How perfectly interesting!"

Zeekee looked around. "Why ees it you bring me to here? Why not you leave me to die?"

Z folded his claws.

"I saw you in a dire predicament. Unlike other irkens, I believe that no race is superior to another. I saw no justice in the way the Law-drones treated you. Thusly, I took you here, to my home. I also require your help."

Zeekee was taken aback. "You need the help of Zeekee? What ees for?"

"You are one of the many non-irkens who has an extensive knowledge of technology, as well as weaponry. The irkens, being a proud race scoff at the idea that any other species could outsmart them, but that is their folly. I know you are a genius with machinery, and I hoped that you could help me."

Zeekee narrowed his eyes questioningly. "How ees it you know so much of Zeekee?"

"There is much I know about everything." With this Z left Tak and Zeekee alone.

Tak was not sure what to think about Zeekee. For all her life, the Tallest had always taught her that no race was equal to the irkens. But Z had shattered that by showing her his library. She had often read the books written by the different races, and often found them more interesting and thought-provoking than those written by even the most intellectual irkens. More than once she had enjoyed the poetry written by the rats of Blorch. She was still getting used to the idea that all beings were equal. But then again, she realized, the Tallest had declared _her_ unequal to other irkens. That in itself proved Z right: the Tallest were wrong about some things.

On the other side, Zeekee was unsure of what to think of Tak. He knew that she was an irken who possessed psionic powers, and was hunted for that reason. He was afraid of her, yet he also felt kinship with her.

The silence in the room was tense for a few moments.

At the same time, they both realized that they had a lot in common: they were both condemned by the Tallest. They were both scorned by the rest of the irken race. And yet, they both were accepted by Z.

They relaxed.

"Tell me, Zeekee," said Tak, "Do you like music?"

* * *

Fin was finishing up his report of Proth's death when his assistant, Dom, walked in. 

"Autopsy's just finished with the body," Dom began, "Nothing we don't already know. Poor bugger hit the ground first, and then subsequently shat out all his organs. But we're all puzzling what to say about his death. We can't tell the people that someone pushed him out a window. And by someone, I think you know I mean 'Z.' Violence like that could cause unrest. I suppose a nice quiet death in his sleep will do just fine."

"Yeah…" said Fin absently. He was staring intently at his computer screen.

"You alright, Chief?" asked Dom.

Fin sighed and rubbed his eyes. He withdrew from his pocket a small Scrambler. It was a little device that would cause any recording or listening devices in or near the room to be rendered useless. It was a privilege that he had as a Councilmember to be able to have private conversations. It was common knowledge that the Tallest had listening devices in every room of every building in the Galaxy. Dom saw this Fin do this, and knew that what Fin wanted to say must be important.

"What is it, Fin?" he asked.

Fin stood up and began pacing. "It's just this whole Z thing, Dom. I have been watching that damn recording over and over again. You know, the one where Z got on television and called for a revolution."

Dom nodded.

"It's just, I dismissed the whole thing. I thought it was just the ravings of some defective irken unhappy with the whole 'destroy the defective' policy of the Tallest. But then I got to listening to what he really had to say. He talked about the deaths of Tallest Miyuki and Spork. We all know that it was Zim that accidentally created that monster that killed the two Tallest. But for some reason, this Z guy said that it wasn't Zim. Why would he be trying to clear Zim's name? Zim is dead now, so what is the point?"

Dom thought about this. "It could be a way to pump doubt into the citizens of the Empire," he said.

Fin shook his head, saying, "That's not all. I've been looking back at the history of that research facility that Zim worked at when Miyuki was killed. The one called 'Caper Cove.'"

"What did you find?" prodded Dom.

Fin checked to make sure his Scrambler was properly working, then continued.

"That's just it. All my searches came up blank."

"So, what, it's all been erased?" asked Dom.

"It's more than that," answered Fin, looking more agitated. "It's like the bloody place never existed at all. It would appear that after Miyuki was killed, all history of the place just disappeared."

"Coincidence?" added Dom hopefully.

"When you've been at this business as long as I, you stop believing in coincidence. There is something about Caper Cove that the Tallest don't want us to know about."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Then Fin got up and got a drink of water from the dispenser near the door.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Dom. I've got a question to ask you, and I don't care if you answer me or not. I just want to say this aloud. But I need to know that this question will not leave this office."

Dom nodded. "Yeah, of course, Inspector. What is it?"

"The question I want to ask," began Fin, "is about Miyuki, and Spork. The question I have to ask is: What if the deaths of two of the greatest Tallest was not the work of a lunatic irken?"

"I don't understand, Inspector. We know it was. Zim was brought to Judgementia, and his life was reviewed. Everyone saw the recordings of his life."

"And it was proved to be him, yes." said Fin. "I know. And maybe, that's really what happened. But I see all these coincidences, and hear this Z person telling us otherwise, and I have to think: what if that isn't what happened? What if someone else unleashed that monster? What if someone else killed Miyuki and Spork? Would you really want to know who it was?"

Dom nodded. "Well, yeah."

"Even if it was someone working for this government?" asked Fin ominously.

Dom didn't answer.

"That's my question," continued Fin softly, "If our Tallest were responsible for what happened at Caper Cove, if our Tallest were responsible for the deaths of two of the greatest leaders in irken history, would you really want to know?"

Dom remained silent.

* * *

The next day found Dom and Fin still in the same office.

"I still haven't been able to find alot of information on Caper Cove," said Fin. He had been up all night.

Then Fin went over to his computer, and brought up the program he was using to search the databse.

"I did, however come up with this little gem of information. I found a list of people who had worked Caper Cove. You won't believe this. Almost all of them are dead, killed under 'unnatural circumstances.' And, here's the real kicker: Proth was the head of the facility at the time."

"Bloody coincidences are making me sick," said Dom.

"There's even more. Del and Creed were also working at the facility. At first I thought that Z went after Proth, because he was a Council member. Now, I'm beginning to think that this all ties back to Caper Cove. Maybe this Z character saw something at Caper Cove, involving Zim and the Tallest that he didn't like, and is now out to right what went wrong. I also found this: besides Del and Creed, the only irken that worked at the facility who is not dead is an irken named 'Rook.' But he disappeared about a year and a half ago."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Dom.

"I'm going to find out as much as I can about this research facility. Come with me, I think I know what to do."

Before they left, Fin told the search program to come up with as much information about last living irken from Caper Cove: Rook.

* * *

Two hours later found Fin and Dom in Conventia's Hall of Records. The Hall of Records on Conventia was where all records of anything pertaining to the Empire were kept. It was here that Fin hoped to find records of Caper Cove Research Facility. They approached the front desk, where a very bored looking Vortian sat munching away at his lunch.

"We would like any records pertaining to the Caper Cove Research Facility on Vort," said Fin.

The Vortian looked up and and sighed. He began punching keys on his computer. After a few moments, the Vortian spoke in a bored, monotone voice.

"The search has come up empty. There is no such place as Caper Cove."

"But you are from Vort, perhaps you remember it?" asked Dom.

The Vortian thought for a moment.

"No." he said flatly.

"Very well, could you direct me to the 'food' section of the Hall of Records?" said Fin.

The Vortian absently pointed off to the right, and resumed looking bored and eating his lunch.

"Are you sure you will find records of Caper Cove in the 'food section?'" asked Dom.

"Well, if anything about this Empire and its Tallest is true, it's that the most reliable records are Snack Records," said Fin cynically.

Sure enough, after about twenty minutes, they were walking out of the Hall of Records with two boxes of Snack Records pertaining to Caper Cove Research Facility.

When Fin arrived back at his office, he sat back down at his computer, to check on the results of his search program. This was what it said:

_searching for keyword: Rook..._

_All info found:_

_Subject Name: Rook_

_Subject Age: 365_

_Subject location: unknown_

Fin sighed. It told him little that he didn't already know. Suddenly, he noticed that his email icon was flashing. He had received a new message. He opened up his email account, and was met with a message that filled him with new hope:

_Chief Inspector Fin,_

_I understand that you are trying to find me. That must mean that you want to know about Caper Cove. I can give you the information you want. Meet me outside the Convention Hall tomorrow night at sundown. Come with a friend if you want to, but the minute I see any Law-drone hovercars or weapons, I will leave. I trust you are curious, no?_

_-Rook_


	15. Rook

A/N: Wow, I just upped chapters eleven and twelve in less than a day. That was fast. The previous chapter moved really fast, and seemed kind of frantic speed-wise. However, this chapter moves incredibly slowly. Sorry. I had a hard time writing the back story, and I don't think I did the idea full justice. In retrospect, maybe I should have taken more time to write this one... Meh…

REFERENCES!!!!... okay so maybe there weren't that many in the last chapter. In fact, the last chapter was based on scenes involving Finch from both the V for Vendetta movie and graphic novel. But that's about it.

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE:

"Rook"

The explosion that had destroyed the Convention Hall had caused much of the surrounding area to be littered with debris. Mountains of rubble were strewn about in the entire Convention Hall. Most of the area was still smoking from the fires that burned deep within the piles of debris. The whole place had an eerie feel to it, and both Fin and Dom felt this as they picked their way through the wreckage.

"Place gives me the willies," said Dom softly.

Fin didn't answer as he scrambled up another pile of debris.

After a few minutes of picking their way through the maze, Fin came to a clearing across which he saw a very old male irken sitting down, and absently twirling his cane. Fin approached him, and the irken looked up. The old irken held up an open claw.

"That's far enough, Inspector," he said in a voice that sounded like it had seen too many years.

"You're Rook, right?" asked Dom.

The old irken nodded. "That I am."

Rook took out a Scrambler and put it down next to his feet.

"You don't have to worry about that, Rook. We're not wired," said Fin, holding up his hands to show that he held no listening/recording device.

"I apologize Inspector, but an irken in my position does not survive taking such risks, " said Rook. "You and I both know that those irkens are now dead," he added cynically.

Fin nodded. "I am to understand that you were to give us information?"

Rook sat back and tapped his forehead absently with his cane. "You don't need any information, Inspector. You have all the information already. Miyuki, Caper Cove, all the names dates and places are in your head."

He pointed his cane meaningfully at Fin before continuing.

"What you want, what you truly _need_, is a story."

Fin and Dom sat down. "A story can be true or false," replied Dom.

"I leave such judgments to you," said Rook, sitting forward now.

* * *

"Our story begins," began Rook, "as these stories often do, with two ambitious irkens aspiring to become leaders. Their names are well known: Red and Purple. They are extremely determined in their resolve, and have no regard for the political process. The more support they gain the more obvious their zealotry. They begin work at a research facility on Vort called Caper Cove, a small scientific outpost headed by an irken named Proth. Nobody working there have any idea why two irkens trying to become leaders would start their campaign in some lowly research facility. In fact, only a few irkens would be told reasons for this. Many of them, as you now know, are dead. There are a few who are not, but more on that later. 

"The two launch a special project in the name of 'galactic security.' It is publicized as a search for biological weapons and is pursued not only without regard to its cost, but also without the supervision of Tallest Miyuki. However, the true goal of the plan is power. Complete and total dictatorial domination; and it is a success. With the help of Del, a brilliant scientist of the Empire, Red and Purple are able to create one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy: a creature capable of consuming infinite amounts of energy and mass. Imagine, Inspector, that you and you alone have control over one of the most terrifying creations in the universe. But if the ultimate goal is power, how best to use such a weapon?"

Rook paused to twirl his cane thoughtfully. Clearing his throat, he continued.

"Well, it's at this point in our story that along comes a wicked mastermind. He is an irken seemingly without a conscience for whom the ends always justify the means. His name is Creed, and it is he who suggests that their target should not be an enemy of the Empire, but rather the Empire itself. And who should Red and Purple choose as a target? Well, you and I both know that answer, Mr. Fin. But what the two young irkens really needed was a _scapegoat_. Someone whom they could pin all the blame on.

"Well, at least that was simple.

"They gave their creation to the most brainless irken they could think of at the time: Zim. They told Zim to claim it as his own, knowing that only he would be stupid enough to accidentally cause damage with it. They orchestrated the entire thing: Miyuki's arrival for inspection, the infinite-energy-creator, all the way up to the point where the monster consumed Miyuki, and escaped. But it hadn't really escaped. As soon as it left the research facility they recaptured it. How? No one may ever know.

"But the results were less than expected, and another Tallest was put in Miyuki's place: Tallest Spork. By now, Red and Purple knew what to do. Making sure to follow Zim, they set up the death of Spork once again, making sure that it looked like Zim had accidentally killed again. Fueled by the media, which was now headed by Proth, fear and panic spread. What was to be done? There was a monster rampaging the galaxy eating Tallest. But of course, Red and Purple had the answer.

"It is at last that the true goal of the plan comes into view. Before the deaths of the two Tallest, no one would have predicted that Red and Purple would become Tallest. No one. Yet not long after their ascension, lo and behold, a miracle. Some thought it was the work of the gods themselves. The creature was caught, and Zim was banished to Foodcourtia, under the pretense that he had fouled up Operation Impending Doom. This was not true, of course, but who was to argue with Proth's smooth voice on the television?"

Fin spoke up. "Hang on now, we know Zim did that. We have footage of him rampaging through Irk on a battlemech."

Rook laughed. "Just like you have footage of him killing Miyuki? You should know better, Fin" he said contemptuously. Then he continued.

"But Zim was a persistent fellow, and the Tallest had quite a time attempting to get rid of him, as you well know. Banishing him to Foodcourtia, exiling him to some backwater planet called 'Earth', sending him to various dangerous planets, until finally he realized what a joke the Tallest thought he was, and he killed himself.

"With Zim out of the way, the Tallest formed the Council on Conventia, making certain close friends obscenely powerful, and began work on a new plan. It is one I'm sure you know little about, hearing only whispers of it. And it all started right here."

Rook paused once again to regain his breath. He looked around at the ruins of the Convention Hall, and shook his head disapprovingly.

"They first built a new PAK control center here in the Convention Hall. It controlled every PAK in the galaxy, feeding chemicals into the bodies of all the irkens, calming them down, and causing them to have nothing but love and faith for the empire. All those who spoke out against the oppressiveness of the Tallest suddenly fell silent.

"However, the Tallest still feared the Invaders of Operation Impending Doom Two. They feared that these irkens, who possess minds superior that those of the common citizen, would be able to break the control of the newly upgraded PAKs. Thusly, they recalled all the Invaders, and arrest them in the name of 'galactic security.'

"While doing this, they realized that irkens possessing psionic powers are unaffected by the new PAK upgrades. These irkens are declared 'defective,' hunted down one by one and killed. The Tallest then begin looking for a new way to control the population. The answer once again comes from Del's brilliant mind: nanotechnology. Microscopic little robots called 'nanites' can be inserted in the body, and can manipulate parts of the body. Used normally in medicine, Del proposed that they should instead be used on the brain-meats of the citizens. The Tallest agreed to this, and began experiments.

"The results are perfect. Using nanites, the Tallest are able to create mindless irkens who care little about anything except the Empire. This plan, however, is still in the experimentation phase. When the Tallest begin using it for real, you can be assured that I will be gone.

"But the end result, the true genius of all the plans I have told you about, was the _ignorance_. Ignorance became the ultimate tool of this government, whether it was by Scapegoat, PAK control, or nanotechnology. The Tallest were able to cover up their crimes, and bathe in the unawareness of their citizens.

"And, ultimately, they have control, and will always have control, until someone comes along and reveals their secrets. I suppose that someone could be me, but then again, this Z character you've been chasing seems to be doing just fine.

"Well, now you have it, Inspector. The full story. The rest, as they say, is history."

* * *

Fin and Dom sat there, brooding over what they had just heard. At last, Fin spoke. 

"Can you really prove any of this?" he asked.

"Why do you think I'm still alive?" came the response.

Fin nodded thoughtfully. "We'd like to take you into protective custody."

Rook laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, I'm sure you would, Inspector, I'm sure you would. But if you want me to prove anything, you'll do exactly as I say. Put that monster, Creed, under all-day-every-day surveillance. When I'm certain he can't go to the bathroom without you knowing, I'll contact you again."

He stood up, leaning heavily on his cane.

"Until then, cheerio."

"Rook, wait," said Fin, as Rook began to walk away, "Why didn't you come forward before?" he asked, "What were you waiting for?"

Rook put on his hat and turned to leave.

"Well, I was waiting for _you_, Inspector," he called as we walked slowly away, "I needed you."

And Rook disappeared into the darkness, leaving Fin and Dom standing in the wreckage.


	16. Del's Diary

A/N: I was reading my story over again for the first time in a while, and I realized that my story had somehow gone in a different direction than originally intended. It had at first seemed like a normal "Zim finds out his life is a lie and kills himself" fanfic, but all of a sudden everything took an unexpected turn around the chapter "Zeta." I hope this doesn't stand out to much…

ANYWAYS…

If you have been reading this fanfic, and have not yet posted a comment, then you are committing the most heinous of crimes here on FanFiction. If you are simply reading, and not telling the Author that he/she is doing a good job (or a terrible job) then you are stealing from the Author. You are stealing their time and energy by simply taking their wares without even a simple "thank you," or "stop writing 'cause you suck."

… Okay, so maybe it isn't a crime, but I've been noticing that my hit-to-comment ratio is a little lopsided. So please, say something. I've been getting the same people commenting on my fanfic over and over (and don't get me wrong, I love them to death!) but it would be nice to hear some new voices and some constructive criticism.

(I love you all!)

…ah, one more thing, the previous chapter was based on a scene from V for Vendetta, in which Eric Finch meets William Rookwood. I guess that was pretty obvious, but I decided to point this out anyway.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Del's Diary"

The next morning found Fin and Dom going through the boxes of Snack Records. They were sadly unable to find anything useful, except that it was obvious that Red and Purple had, at least for some time, worked there, because the amount of snack foods that were delivered there was abnormally high.

"Well, at least we have proof that they were there. That somewhat back's up Rook's story," said Fin hopefully.

"Yes, but we can't prove that anything nasty happened. We need Rook," answered Dom. "Did we put Creed under constant surveillance?"

Fin nodded. "Yeah, I've got him on constant surveillance, but Rook has not contacted be back. It's only been a day, though."

But Rook would never answer back.

Three weeks later, Fin and Dom sat there in the small office, beginning to understand that Rook would never answer back. As the two sat there, Fin realized that the small office was very quiet. Not only had Rook never answered, but Z had not done anything. Fin sighed deeply. Standing up, he walked over to the window and stared out at Loondin. In the distance he could see the still-smoldering ruins of the Convention Hall. He shook his head as he spoke to Dom.

"I don't like this, Dom. It's been too long since anything's happened. It just feels like the tension's building up until someone will explode and everything will come crashing down."

"What are you gonna do, Chief?" asked Dom. "I mean, now that we have an understanding of what's going on?" Dom was afraid to say anything about Caper Cove and Rook aloud, for fear that the Tallest might hear them.

Fin took out his Scrambler, and placed it on his desk.

"I don't know, Dom. On one hand, I agree with Z, now that Rook has shown me the truth, but on the other hand, I disagree with his methods. I guess the most I can do is soften the inevitable blow for the citizens."

Suddenly, the phone rang for the first time in weeks, making Fin and Dom jump. Fin excitedly picked up the receiver, hoping that perhaps Rook had called back.

"Hello?" he asked quickly.

"_Yes, hello? Chief Inspector Fin?"_ spoke the voice at the other end of the line, _"This is is Inspector Lodd, on Vort. Some of my men working down at the docks of Vort's largest ocean pulled a body out of the bay. It's decomposed quite a bit, but we were able to identify it from what was left of its PAK."_

"Yeah? What's this got to do with me? I'm working the Z case, I've got little jurisdiction over Vort's oceans," answered Fin, greatly disappointed that it wasn't Rook calling him.

"_Well, when I finally got an ID for the body, I pulled up all information on the victim as I could. While I was doing this, I noticed that you had put out a search in the victim's name naught but a month ago. Just thought I call you and tell you we found Rook."_

Fin's heart nearly stopped. "You mean, Rook's dead?"

"_Oh, aye, sir. By the level of decomposition, I'd say this body's been dead for at least a year. Sorry to break the news to you, Was he some sort of witness, sir?"_

"Yeah, he was," said Fin.

Slamming the receiver down, Fin let out a roar and kicked over the trashcan next to his desk.

"That stupid irken stood there and spoon-fed me that BULLSHIT, and I ate it up!" he yelled.

Dom was still confused. "What's it chief, was Rook killed?"

"YES!" roared Fin, "He's been dead for a YEAR!"

Fin calmed down a bit before continuing. "It was Z all along, playing us like stupid little smeets, sending us on a merry dance, so we would chase our tails while he planned his next move."

"So, what are we going to do, Inspector?" asked Dom.

"We're going to do what we should have been doing. We're going to find Z."

The two sat in silence for a few moments. Fin got up and looked out the window once again at the smoldering ruins of the Convention Hall.

"He's probably sitting in his hideout, laughing at what a bunch of fools we are," he said angrily.

* * *

Z was sitting in his communications room, laughing as he watched Fin and Dom sit in the little office. Even though Fin had a Scrambler out, Z was still able to listen and watch their conversations, thanks to Zeekee's new hacking technology. Z was glad he had met Zeekee. Zeekee's eye for machinery was invaluable. 

Tak, who was sitting next to him, spoke up.

"What's so funny? They just found out that you killed Rook, and took his place. Now they will be hunting you down even harder than in the past."

"I didn't kill Rook. The Tallest killed him, and I have proof. That's what is so funny, that after all they have seen, after all I have told them, they still believe that I am the evil one. No matter, once I am finished with my next move, Fin's world will come crashing down on him, and he will realize that he cannot escape the truth of the Tallest."

Z stood up to leave, but Tak blocked his way with another question.

"You mean, what you told Fin and Dom was true? I thought it was just a way to get a Council member on you side."

Z shook his head. "You belittle me, Tak. In all the time you have known me, I have told perhaps one little lie to someone. Besides, after all you have seen, do you really think that the Tallest are better than that? Do you hold them in such high esteem?"

Tak sighed. "I dunno. It's just that you hide your face behind a mask, and one cannot tell if you are lying or not."

Z said nothing. With a simple nod to Tak and Zeekee, and a friendly pat on MIMI's head, he left without another word. As Tak watched him leave, she smiled slightly.

"A strange friend friend, yee has there, Tak," said Zeekee, who was fiddling with some small device.

Tak nodded, and left the room. It was quite late out, and Conventia's bright orange sun was setting. Tak decided it was time to go to sleep.

* * *

Del awoke in the middle of the night. She looked around, sure that she had heard some noise. She saw nobody in the room. She sighed and sat back, thinking about what had happened in the past month. As soon as she had seen Z's speech on television, she had known. She had had her suspicions when she first saw the pictures of the masked irken, and when the Convention Hall had been destroyed, but when she had heard the voice on television, she knew. It was him, coming for her 

There it was again, that noise.

Del looked around once again, and noticed that the shadows in on of the corners of her room were darker than usual. She sighed once again.

"It's you, isn't it? You can come out. I know you're there. You've come to kill me, haven't you?"

"Yes," replied the shadow. And out of the corner, stepped Z.

Del was struck by how tall he was. She had never seen a Tallest up close before, and she was in awe at his size.

"Thank the Gods," she said, seemingly relieved. "After what happened, after what they did, I thought about killing myself. And after the Tallest started using my nanotechnology naught but a month ago, I thought about it again. But I knew that one day you'd come for me."

Z stepped closer and sat down at the opposite end of her bed.

"I didn't know what they were really going to do with that Thing. I swear to you. Read my journal. It's over there on my desk." She pointed to a small red book on her desk before continuing. "I always thought they were going to use the weapon for the war, I never thought…I didn't want… I didn't mean for it to end this way.

Z leaned forward, saying, "What they did was only possible because of you."

Del shook her head sadly. "They not only changed the outcome of galactic conquest, they changed the entire course of irken history. I thought perhaps the change would be for the better. Is it wrong to hold on to that kind of hope?"

"I've not come for what you hoped to do. I've come for what you did," said Z softly.

"So you will kill me now?" asked Del.

Z held up an empty syringe. "I killed you already, ten minutes ago."

Del looked fearfully at the empty syringe. "Will there be any pain?"

"No, no pain."

Del nodded. "Thank you… Is it meaningless to apologize?"

Z leaned in close, and patted her arm with a gloved claw. "Never."

"I am so sorry…" said Del. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Z stood and walked towards the door. Stooping low, he walked under the doorframe, and out of sight. The last thing Del heard before she died was the soft _click_ of the door as Z closed it behind himself.

Del died sitting up with her eyes open staring off into nothingness.

* * *

Once again, Fin was awoken at an early hour by the ringing of the phone. Once again, he swore to himself and insisted that no irken should be awoken at such hours. Once again he answered his phone angrily, and once again he was told that a party member had been murdered. 

"What!" he exclaimed. "DEL?"

He quickly dressed himself, ran out the door, and jumped into his hovercar. Drinving like a squidge out of hell, he swore repeatedly to himself that he should have been more vigilant. When he reached Del's house, he saw that the Law-drones had already set up a roadblock around her mansion. He climbed out of his car, flashing his badge at the nearest Law-drone, who let him in through the barricade. Walking briskly across the vast lawn in front of her home, the Law-drone filled him in.

"There's little to tell you, Chief Inspector. It's another party member down. She was killed by a poison, which was apparently injected intravenously. We found a small mark on her left arm which is probably the injection site. She died painlessly."

Fin nodded but said nothing. He dismissed the Law-drone with a wave of his hand, and opened the front door. He fairly ran up the stairs and down the hall to Del's bedroom. When he opened the door, he saw exactly what he expected. There was Del, sitting in her bed. She almost looked as though she was alive. Fin shook his head sadly and sighed.

Dom had arrived shortly before Fin, and was standing and inspecting the contents of her desk.

"Don't worry, Chief. I haven't disturbed anything here. I've only opened this desk. The scene hasn't been disturbed."

Fin walked over to Del's body, and gave it a once-over. There was nothing to see here. She had been poisoned, alright. He could see the needle mark on her arm. He stood up, and looked around, hoping to see some clue that would lead him to the killer. Of course, he knew who the killer was. That much was obvious, but he hoped that somehow Z had left behind some clue. No such luck.

Something out of the ordinary caught his eye. He looked at the bedside table next to Del. On it was a red journal. It had been so conveniently placed in plain sight. Fin had a feeling that Z had put this there to be found by him. He picked it up and flipped through it. It appeared to be written by Del. Looking around to make sure nobody except Dom saw him, he pocketed it. He and Dom would read through it later.

"Ah, Chief Inspector, I thought I might find you here," said a voice behind him.

Fin turned around to see Creed standing in the doorway. Fin frowned. He didn't like Creed.

"Mr. Creed," he said through clenched teeth, "What are you doing here?"

"Why Inspector, didn't you get the message?" Creed replied sweetly, "I'm now in charge of the investigation! We'll be working together now, isn't that wonderful?"

Fin narrowed his large eyes. "This is my case, Creed! Who authorized this? You have no jurisdiction here."

Creed grinned widely "Why, it was the Tallest. They see that you are having some trouble, so they thought perhaps you needed some help."

Creed leaned close to Fin, and spoke very softly. "They seem to think that you are incapable of doing this yourself. The Tallest are losing their faith in you. If I were you, I would focus more on the job at hand, and cease all activity involving _things long past_, if you know what I mean."

Fin backed away. "You mean, Caper Cove," he answered.

Creed narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Turning his heel, he marched away and closed the door behind himself.

"Creed the Creep," muttered Dom.

Fin shook his head sadly. "I've been a party member for nearly two years. In all my time, I have only faithfully served the Tallest. How can they forget this?"

Not waiting for an answer, he motioned for Dom to follow him outside.

The two of them left the scene, and met back at Fin's office.

Fin and Dom sat down, and began to read the journal that Fin had lifted from the scene. It appeared that she had not written in it frequently, but her entries went all the way back to Caper Cove. Fin was excited, because he felt that it would lead him to Z, perhaps giving clues to who Z truly was. They opened it and read.

* * *

_Day 234, second year of our Tallest Miyuki,_

_I have just been transferred to a new research facility called Caper Cove. It is a wonderful place, where I can expand my horizons. I have been assigned to a research project, in the pharmaceutical wing. It is interesting work, and I hope to discover new cures for the diseases we now face as an expanding empire._

_Yesterday, an irken named Creed came and toured the facility. He is apparently the new head of the research center. I don't like him. Every time he smiles at me I get chills down to my spooch. I try my best to do what I can, and stay away from him._

* * *

_Day 260, second year of our Tallest Miyuki,_

_We received some unexpected visitors. Red and Purple, two up-and-coming politicians, have come to Caper Cove to work. Their friend, Proth, told everyone that they were there to begin experiments involving weapons of war, and would use this to gain influence and faith, in order to become Tallest. Everyone oohed and ahhed and exclaimed what a wonderful thing it was to have two such young bright minds working here. I, however could see right through Proth. The two are up to no good. My friend Rook nodded when I told him my fears. Sometimes I think that Rook is the only other irken who sees others for how they truly are. He is smart, and I like him._

_While I was working, Red came up and watched over my shoulder. It made me nervous, but when I turned to look at him, he smiled warmly, and asked me to work with him. He apparently saw something in me, and wanted my help. I accepted, afraid that if I didn't, he might become angry._

* * *

_Day 312, second year of our Tallest Miyuki,_

_I find myself liking Red and Purple more and more each day. The two are inseperable. They are seen everywhere together, and when they work together, the bounce ideas off each other faster than I can think. The two indeed are brilliant. We are almost finished with our experimental weapon. I am excited that our creation will aid the Empire in conquering new worlds.

* * *

_

_Day 1, third year of our Tallest Miyuki,_

_We have finished. Our weapon is more powerful than anything I have ever encountered. I cannot believe that I have taken part in making history. Very soon, our weapon will be used experimentally. Red and Purple have been coming up with an idea for conquering the galaxy. They call it "Operation Impending Doom."_

_I don't know the full details of the plan, but if they are able to put it in motion, then we may be looking at two new Tallest._

* * *

_Date undefined; no Tallest,_

_Our great Tallest Miyuki has been killed! Somehow that stupid smeet-brained Zim managed to get a hold of our weapon, and accidentally unleashed it on Miyuki. Miyuki was killed instantly, and now we are without Tallest. It seems as though Red and Purple may succeed Miyuki._

* * *

_Day 1, first year of our Tallest Spork,_

_In a surprising twist, an irken named Spork was elected. Red and Purple don't seem too angry that they were not chosen. I wonder why._

_I really like Spork. I think that he was twice the leader Miyuki was. Thanks to him, our Empire is flourishing under the various programs he has set forth._

_I am, however, afraid that _**(page missing) **_and it would appear that the only one who agrees with me is Rook._

* * *

_Date undefined; no Tallest,_

_It has happened again. Tallest Spork has been _**(writing smeared by what appears to be tears)** _think that Zim is the one who did it. I, however do not believe this. Spork was only Tallest for about a week before he died, and Proth, with his smooth voice and rousing speeches denounced Zim as the traitor, and hailed Red and Purple as great leaders. This reeks of foul play, but I keep my mouth shut. I am afraid for my life. The only irken I feel I can talk to is Rook. He agrees with me that something is not right about the deaths of the two Tallest, but he too says nothing to anyone except me._

* * *

_Day 21, fourth year of our Tallest Red and Purple,_

_I look through this book, and realize that it has been over four years since I have written anything in it. I just only picked it up today because something extraordinary happened today. Red and Purple formed the Great Council, and have selected me as one of the members. I am afraid to be a part of the Council. I know deep down inside who the true murderers of Miyuki and Spork were. I think that the only other irken who agreed with me on this is Rook, but he disappeared last week. We all know what happened to him; he knew to much._

_I am afraid that if I decline this position, I will be killed too. I have no choice but to accept. I am afraid I will die soon anyway, if not by the hands of the Tallest, then by my own hand. I cannot bear to live in a world founded on ignorance and murder._

_Especially since I helped to create it._

* * *

"It would appear that Z wanted us to find it." 

Fin was sitting in his living room, talking to the Tallest via his communications equipment. He was the only one there; Creed was out doing whatever it was he did at night, which probably meant killing. Fin sat, holding up Del's journal to the cameras so the Tallest could see it.

"He wanted us to know the story, or at least a part of it," he continued.

Red narrowed his eyes. "Am I to understand that you read this document, Inspector?"

There were a lot of words that could have been used to describe how Red and Purple appeared. The most prominent ones in Fin's mind were: Tired, Haunted, Frightened, and Hungry.

"Yes, sir," replied Fin.

"Has anyone else read it?" asked Purple

Fin thought briefly about Dom, but then decided to keep him out of trouble. "No, sir," he answered.

Red leaned forward intently. "Then let me make this perfectly clear. The contents of this document are a matter of the security of the Empire. As the authenticity of this document cannot be verified, it could be an elaborate forgery created by Z. Any discussion of this document or its contents with anyone else will be regarded as an act of treason. Is that understood, Mr. Fin?"

"Yes, sir"

"You would do well, Inspector, to put it out of your mind."

With that, the screen turned black as Red disconnected the link. A few minutes later, Fin realized that Red and Purple had not ended the meeting with the traditional "The Empire Prevails" dictum. That was odd.

But most of all, Fin knew for a fact that the journal was not a fake. He had taken it to a forensic scientist before presenting it to the Tallest. Upon comparing it to other samples of Del's handwriting, the scientist had declared that it was impossible that the journal was a forgery, and had, without a doubt, been written by the late Council member herself. The fact that the journal was not fake, and that the Tallest had denounced it as a forgery and forbidden him to speak of it, proved everything to Fin.

There _was_ something terribly wrong with the government.


	17. The Land of 'Do as You're Told'

A/N: Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long update, I've been working harder in school, and I haven't had a lot of time to sit and think about writing this fic. I think that this is my least favorite chapter. I hate it, because I had such a hard time writing it. Why? Because I suck at writing romances. I even suck at writing hints to romance. I like to write about swashbuckling action, not mushy poop. But whatever…

…The homages continue! There are a couple references in this chapter, so try and catch them. In the future, I resolve to be more proactive in finding and using references and quotes and stuff like that.

* * *

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

"The Land of Do-As-You're Told"

Tak awoke the next morning once again to strange smells and music. By now, she was used to it. She climbed out of her bed and walked out of her room and into the kitchen. Yawning widely, she sat down at the table, and said good morning to Zeekee and Z. Zeekee mumbled a reply, not looking up from the device he was fiddling with. Tak shook her head, smiling. Since she had first met him, she had hardly seen him without some electronic device.

"What's that you got there, Zeekee?" she asked.

"This device has been modified," he mumbled back. "It can now manufacture two linked…." He trailed off absently.

"Eh?"

"Oh, apologies, I were talking to meself. I is modifying this laser sword of Z's, to make benefit for longer battery life."

Tak found it sometimes difficult to decipher Zeekee's heavy accent, but she could understand him most of the time. She nodded and grunted, sipping the coffee that was laid out in front of her.

"What's for breakfast today, Z?" she asked. Breakfast was by far her favorite meal of the day. Z always made a huge morning breakfast, insisting that it was the most important meal of the day.

"Waffles!" said Z simply. "An Earthly dish, I believe."

He brought the delicious food to the table, and Zeekee and Tak began eating. As usual, Z simply sat there. Every morning it was the same. He would do a great many things while they were eating. He would talk with Tak and Zeekee, and sometimes he would read quietly. But he never ate with them. Tak supposed he ate before both of them woke, so as not to take off his mask in front of them. Tak often wondered what sort of face lay beneath the smiling shell. She would sometimes find herself staring at Z's mask for a long time, and quickly look away, embarrassed. It wasn't that he was unnerving, she simply wanted to know what he truly looked like.

Sometimes she wondered if Z noticed that she stared at him. She hoped he didn't.

They quickly finished their waffles, and cleaned their eating-places. Z put down the book he was reading. Tak looked briefly at the cover, which read, "A Psychological Analysis of the Bootie-Nen Society, Vol. 1: Temperments and how they Affect the Proper Mating Process of the Dominant Race." She rolled her eyes, wondering how he read through that stuff. She supposed his mind was lightyears beyond that of many irkens. Once again, she found herself wondering what he looked like.

"Come, Tak. It is time once more to speak to the irken people directly." said Z. "I will require you to handle the cameras. Zeekee, I will need you also. I have heard that the Empire's government hackers have become more skilled. I will need you to stay at my computers, deterring the hackers from shutting down my broadcast. Do you think that you can handle it?"

Zeekee put down the laser sword he was fiddling with. "Ah, shure, my friend! It will be, how do you say? Smeet-play? Ees that how you say?"

Z chuckled. "Yes, smeet-play."

The three of them walked through the library, and into the Communications Room. When they entered, they saw MIMI, sitting in the center of the room, happily playing with broken bits of machinery. Tak told her that there were some waffles left over in the kitchen. MIMI jumped up and waved her hands, as though to say, "Yippeee!" and skipped out of the room as fast as her nimble SIR legs could carry her.

Z sat down once more at the desk in front of the cameras, and waited for the "on air" sign to light up.

* * *

Once again, televisions all around the galaxy stopped playing their normally scheduled programs and reverted to static. Much like before, this caused an uproar in many of the irken homes. T.V. sets were slapped and kicked, and threats to cable companies were yelled into phones. And once again all became calm when the smiling face of Tallest Spork appeared on the screens.

* * *

"Good evening, Irken Empire!" said Z, leaning forward. "It has been two months since we last sat down and talked for a bit, and I feel it important that we do so once more." 

Z paused to twiddle his claws for a moment. Sitting back, he launched into his speech.

"I assume you remember what I told you last time we spoke. However, it would appear that you have done nothing to help yourselves. I am quite disappointed in you all. I opened your eyes to the crimes of this government, and still you remain silent and obedient. This is to be expected, I suppose. After all, who can argue with the smooth voice of that master of propaganda, Proth? I'm sure he told you all sorts stories about how the courageous Conventia Law-drones were close to capturing me. Reports about such matters were…"

He paused.

"… exaggerated. But worry not, he shall trouble you know more. As you may well know, Proth is dead, along with Del. Yes, it would appear that they both died from accidents, and the government has no doubt told you this. But that also is an outright fabrication."

He leaned forward before continuing.

"I killed them both. Yes! I killed them. I confess to that crime, though I would hardly consider killing such immoral beasts a 'crime.' I killed them for the same reasons I destroyed the Convention Hall. I attempted to galvanize you into action!"

Z stood and pointed an accusing finger at the cameras.

"Do you remember what I said before? No? Then I'll repeat it! YOU are to blame for your own plight. YOU supported the two Tallest. YOU took without question their senseless orders. YOU have remained silent and obedient. And now, it seems that I must take action; make the first move. And that is what I shall do."

Z sat down once more and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms and talking as though he were speaking to a disobedient smeet.

"I will give you one last chance. Exactly one month from now, the center of Empire Surveillance will be destroyed. From that moment forward, you will no longer have to fear the cameras and bugs, the wiretaps and random searches. You will no longer cower under the watchful eye of the government. You will be free. From that moment forward, this repulsive and degenerate land of 'do as you're told' will become a glorious and wonderful land of 'do as you please.'"

Z stood up and gave a traditional irken salute, his claws balled into a fist and pounded once against the chest.

"Freedom Prevails!" he proclaimed.

And all around the Empire, screens turned black and displayed a crimson 'Z' before returning to their normally scheduled programs.

* * *

Once more, Tallest Red placed his head in his claws and sighed. Purple was ranting and raving crazily in the room adjacent to his. For years, he and Purple had stood above their beloved empire, and now it was all beginning to crumble. All that work, destroyed. Sighing once more, he looked up. Next to his bed was the television that he had been watching. And next to the television were several stacks of chip bags and cookies, along with other various snack foods. 

They were all unopened.

* * *

"Yes, Tak! Very good! You must always return with a slash after blocking, it is when the enemy is most vulnerable!" 

Z and Tak were standing in the center of the library. Z had cleared the floor and was helping Tak learn to use a laser sword. They each had a sword and were practice-dueling. Zeekee had modified the swords to tone down the intensity, so that if either of them were hit, it would only sting slightly, instead severing limbs. Tak was doing her best to land some hits on Z, but it was as though Z had been born with a laser sword in his hand. Zeekee smiled slightly as he watched the two irkens attack each other. Z certainly seemed to be a master at everything. Suddenly, Tak tripped and fell. She landed hard on her face, and stood up quickly, both here face and her pride smarting.

"Your swordplay may be adequate for defending yourself, but your footwork needs improvement," said Z, chuckling. "Here, let me show you. Your arms need to be more relaxed. That will improve your balance. Have I not said that you should think of the sword as no more than an 'extension of your own self?' If you simply flail the sword around like it is no more than a mere tool, then you will most certainly fall down a lot."

Z held her arms gently in position to show her the proper way to hold her upper body. She let him do so, as it was not an altogether unpleasant feeling. Tak smiled and nodded.

"I understand, Z," she said.

"It is important that you learn to fight. You too, Zeekee, even though I know you wish to have nothing to do with the use of weapons," said Z, deactivating his sword.

"Ah, is true, my friend! I wish no to fight, but I can make the weapons just fine, eh?" answered Zeekee.

Z laughed. "Yes, that is true. But the fact remains, when the surveillance systems are destroyed, chaos will no doubt ensue. Citizens will rise up against the Law-drones all around the galaxy. I cannot risk you two bieng caught in the cross-fire. From the moment the surveillance systems are destroyed, we begin the next Act."

Tak found it somehow appropriate that Z referred to his plans as part of his 'Play.' But she had always had that nagging doubt that his great Play, with all its Acts and Scenes, would fail in the end.

"But Z," she asked, "Aren't you afraid that maybe things will not go to plan? That maybe, in the end, the government will win?"

Z shook his head, and replied,

"Why, what should be the fear?  
I do not set my life at a pin's fee,  
And for my soul, what can they do to that,  
Being a thing immortal as itself?"

With that, he walked out. Tak stood, watching him go, smiling and shaking her head. That was Z for you. He always had a quote or some witty thing to say to counter any argument you made against him. Sometimes Tak found it rather… pleasant.

Deactivating her sword, she sat down next to Zeekee, and peered over his shoulder, watching him toy with a small gun.

"That there ees a odd friend you has," he said without looking up.

"Mm-hmm," came the reply.

"But then," he continued, "He ees more than friend to you, no?"

Tak was taken aback. "What?" she asked sharply.

"You heard I," answered Zeekee without even looking up. "I have seen the ways you look at him, when you are thinking that nobody watches. You are quite taken with him, even if you do not admit yourself to this."

Tak looked back at the door through which Z had left and smiled slightly.

"Yeah, so what?" she asked.


	18. Bulletproof

A/N: Wow, nobody got the two largest homages in the last chapter. The first line that Zeekee speaks ('this device has been…') is an homage to Portal, an award-winning game developed by Valve Software, makers of the famous Half-Life games. And the little poetic verse that Z spoke towards the end of the chapter was from Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare. I think I'll use more Shakespeare and Portal stuff. They have great lines.

Well, this is destined to be an extraordinarily long chapter, at least by my standards.

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

"Bulletproof"

Fin and Creed sat next to each other on Fin's couch, facing the television, which displayed the angry face of Tallest Red. On the floor sat Inspector Lodd, from Vort, and Dom. Lodd and Dom had been appointed hastily to the Council to replace Dell and Proth. The four of them all appeared tired and worn, while Red appeared livid and crazed. In the background, the Council could hear Purple yelling orders to people.

"I do not take well to failures. You know this," said Red. "It has been fifty-seven days since Z was brought to our attention, and every day we do not bring him to justice is a failure. Fifty-seven days, Council. FIFTY-SEVEN FAILURES!!!"

The four Council members bowed their heads. Even Lodd was embarrassed, despite the fact that he had just been informed of his duties to the Council.

"And now, this irken proposes to destroy a very integral part of our administration. He is going to demolish the very center of our intelligence in one month! ONE MONTH!!!" Red was now ranting. "I cannot allow this to happen! I cannot let everything we have worked so hard for fall to pieces all because of one stupid irken that YOU couldn't catch!" He looked meaningfully at Inspector Fin

"My Tallest," spoke up Lodd.

Red turned to look at Lodd, still fuming.

"In front of you," continued Lodd, "is a folder that contains theories and contingency plans that I have written up."

Red looked down at the folder in front of him, and flipped through it. "What is this, Inspector Lodd?" he asked.

"It details several different ways that Z can destroy the Surveillance Center. As you know, the Center is housed on Irk. Irk has long been the highest security planet, because it is ouroriginalhome. I have proposed to use this security against the terrorist. If he plans to destroy the Surveillance Center, then draw all security forces to that area, and make it impenetrable. Of course, that is only one plan. There are several others detailed in that report. It also contains theoretical scenarios on how the terrorist might attack. I have also placed several contingencies and suggestions as to what we can do if the terrorist succeeds."

Red looked closely at a few of the reports, then looked up. "Mr. Lodd, on what did you base these contingencies?"

Lodd shrugged. "Just theories and hunches, sir."

Red closed the report. "If this government were to run solely on theories and hunches, we would crumble even faster. I suggest you all stop thinking about what might happen, and think about what _must_ happen."

"But sir," said Inspector Lodd "We have to consider the possibility that Z may succeed and-"

"He won't!" cut in Red. "At least, I hope for your sakes that he won't."

"But my Tallest-"

"If he does succeed, and anything happens to those buildings," continued Red, apparently deaf to Lodd's protesting, "the only thing that will change, the only difference that it will make is that tomorrow morning, instead of a newspaper, I will be happily reading Mr. Fin's DEATH CERTIFICATE!!!" He looked once more at Fin with anger in his eyes.

Inspector Fin's heart skipped a beat and he began to feel very sick. Red calmed down and spoke once more.

"As you all know, the Invaders from Operation: Impeding Doom Two have been imprisoned. Mr. Creed, you are to begin processing them using the methods that Del outlined in her notes. The ones on nanotechnology."

Creed nodded. Red then spoke his final words.

"Tonight I will speak directly to the people of this Empire. I will make the situation perfectly clear to everyone: That the security of this nation depends on complete and total compliance. Mr. Creed, what we need is a clear message to the citizens! This message should be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, and seen on every television. I want this message to resound on the entire Irken Interlink! I want this Empire to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion! I want every male, female, and smeet to understand how close we are to chaos! I want everyone to remember WHY THEY NEED US!"

He paused to regain breath and then continued.

"It seems that they have forgotten that the government's job is to protect and control. I will have to remind them of this. Mr. Creed, you are to go to Irk as soon as possible, and organize defenses. The rest of you are to stay here and aid Mr. Fin in his efforts. I expect you to have Z found within the month with so much help, Inspector. Because if you fail me again, it's over."

"Perhaps, my Tallest, it is best if I, too leave for Irk," said Fin. "I think that I will have a better chance of catching him there, especially if he is already on Irk, preparing to destroy the surveillance center."

Red suddenly became very anxious. "NO! You will stay here, as I have ordered. If you set one foot on Irk before finding Z, I will do more than just kill you."

With that, the television winked out and Red's face disappeared and the meeting was adjourned.

* * *

Dom walked into Fin's office to find the Chief Inspector quietly packing bags. Fin had his Scrambler out on the table, so Dom closed the door and spoke aloud. 

"What's going on, Chief? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Irk, Dom. You saw how Red was anxious to keep me here. There was something there that he didn't want me to see, and I'm going to find out what it is. It's probably got to do with that nanotechnology stuff."

Dom nodded. "I've got a ship large enough for two out in the spaceport. I've been wanting to get away myself, and you can come with me."

Fin looked up. "Thanks, Dom. You're a true friend," he said with a smile.

The two of them walked quickly out of the office. They briefly visited Dom's house so Dom could collect a few things, and then they were off to the spaceport.

* * *

At that precise moment, Z and Tak were boarding the small ship that Tak had used to get to Conventia. They had packed little but food and clothing. Z had decided to leave his home the way it was, so that he may come back later and retrieve his collections. He knew they would be safe. 

Z sat down in the pilot seat, and Tak in the navigator's seat. MIMI wriggled in between them and clapped her hands excitedly. Behind them, in the small cargo hold, sat Zeekee, who was apparently tweaking the power supply systems of the ship to "make benefit for the longer of power supply ship flying mechanism improvement upgrades by shortening the length of wire transport modules." Whatever that meant.

"It will take nary 'bout a month to arrive on Irk, so I suggest we all make ourselves as comfortable as possible," said Z.

Tak reclined her seat and sat back. She powered up the radio, began fiddling with the tuner to find some music. To here utter horror and dismay, all the stations had been replaced with the voice of Tallest Red. She clicked off the radio and powered on the television above her seat. She was shocked to find that each of the television stations had been replaced with the same thing: Tallest Red standing in front of a large irken flag, and delivering a speech. She was about to turn it off when Z stopped her.

"Let us see what this villain has to say," he said.

The listened for about five minutes until neither of them could stand it any longer. Red was not giving a speech, he was giving a warning to all citizens of the Empire.

"_The security of this nation depends on complete and total compliance. For the next month any protestor, any instigator, or agitator will BE MADE EXAMPLE OF!!!"_ he yelled into the cameras. "_Tonight I give you my most solemn vow. I say now with utter and complete honesty that justice will be swift, it will be righteous; and it will be without mercy. I vow that this Z animal will be found and that peace and prosperity will return to this Empire, and those who stand against us shall be destroyed!!!"_

Tak reached up and punched the power button. The television winked off and she let out a sigh. She really hoped that Z could bring down the government.

* * *

The month long trip to Irk remained uneventful, and when the planet was finally in view, Tak wondered how they would get onto Irk unnoticed. 

"How exactly do you plan on landing unseen, Z?" she asked.

"Ah, I have already thought of that," he replied.

He stood up from the pilot controls and moved to the cargo hold. He gently woke Zeekee and handed the rat a small device.

"Zeekee, these irken ships have camouflaging technology. This hereis a cloaking device that I stole from an old acquaintance of mine. Do you think you could connect it to the ship's computers and cloak us?"

Zeekee nodded and sleepily muttered something about "smeet play" and took the device over to the ship's central computers. Z moved back into cockpit and took the pilot controls once more. After a few minutes, Zeekee called out from the cargo hold that he was finished and Z maneuvered the ship towards Irk's atmosphere. They landed safely in one of the larger deserts, far away from the vast cities.

Tak got out to stretch her legs. Amonth in a cramped ship could cause huge cramps, so she worked the stiffness out of her body.

"Ah, our homeland," said Z, stretching his claws to the sky and breathing in the air. "Beautiful, 'tis it not?"

He nodded in the general direction of the nearest city, which could be seen far away in the distance.

"There it is, Tak. The center of surveillance in all of the Empire. All the cameras in the entire galaxy transmit there, and it is in that place that the watchful eyes of the government peruse the very lives of its citizens."

Z stood, looking at the distant city in deep thought.

"Yes, the watchers of everything," he muttered darkly. "But who watches the Watchmen?"

Presently he snapped back to the present and went about setting up a camp. Not much shelter was needed out in the deserts of Irk. Just some blankets and a fire would suffice.

That night while Z and Tak sat talking, Zeekee, who had been trying to sleep, suddenly sat up and pointed towards the sky.

"Look, my friends, look! What is that in the skies?" he said.

Z and Tak looked up to see a bright object streaking across the sky.

"It's a ship," said Tak.

"Hmmm… so it would seem. How odd," said Z.

"Why do you say that?" asked Tak.

"Well, hardly a soul now travels to Irk. It is so far away from the rest of the Empire's planets that it is an inconvenience to vacation here. It is not everyday that you see a ship entering the atmosphere. I know Creed is supposed to be here, but he would have arrived before us. I wonder who that could be."

Tak nodded absently, then yawned. She was very tired. She lay down under the stars and soon fell asleep.

* * *

Tak awoke the next morning very early. Slowly she sat up and looked around, then a noise made here sit up quickly. She looked around quickly and saw that they were not alone. Fin and Dom were standing in the middle of the camp, staring at her, apparently unsure of what to do. She quickly jumped up and backed away, looking left and right. Zeekee was still snoring away, and Z was nowhere to be found. She was annoyed that Z wasn't there but felt confident that she could take on the two of them. 

"You're Tak, aren't you?" asked Fin.

"Yeah, so what, Law-drone?" she spat back.

"Ah, greetings Inspector Fin! What a surprise to find you here!" said Z, emerging from behind the ship. "But then, it is also little surprise to find you here, if you get my meaning."

Fin backed away from Z slowly, looking scared.

"Do not worry, Inspector," reassured Z,"I have no intentions of harming you or your friend. Why should I? You had no hand in helping the Tallest, and by the looks of it, you've already resigned."

Fin nodded dumbly and sat down. "I still can't believe I've done it myself. I've thought about leaving for a long time now, but it is still hard to think about."

Dom boldly stepped forward. "Why not go all the way, then?" he thought aloud. "Why not join and help Z? Would you have us join you?"

Z looked from one to the other and nodded. "I knew that I would find friends in the two of you from the moment I saw you whispering in your office."

"You've been watching us?" asked Fin suddenly looking up.

"I've been watching everyone for a long time. I have been in your surveillance system from the time it was set up nary but a year ago."

"Then what's the point of destroying the surveillance center? The Tallest and their hackers won't be able to see what's going on, but neither will you," said Dom, sitting down.

"Ah, therein lies the comedy!" exclaimed Z with a laugh. "The Tallest will be unable to watch the lives of their citizens, that is true. But while their equipment will be disabled, mine will work perfectly. I have not just simply hacked into their system, I have created my own center of surveillance."

Fin nodded. "That certainly seems like the kind of genius I'd expect from you."

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke again.

"I knew something was up all along. I didn't know what made me so suspicious of the Tallest, but when I heard Rook…well…you… talk about Caper Cove, and when I read Del's journal, my fears were confirmed. I'd like very much to help you, if you would allow me."

Z laughed. "Of course."

Fin stood up. "That's great. Now there's just one more question."

He grinned evilly. "Just how the hell _are_ we going to blow that surveillance center?"

* * *

Creed was extremely nervous. He had seen the bright object streaking through the sky, and was sure that Z was somewhere on Irk, just waiting to strike. Creed had organized defenses well. There was absolutely no way that anyone would be able to enter the surveillance center without being seen, identified, and vaporized. He was very confident that the security was enough, but he had that nagging feeling that he was not doing enough. 

As Creed walked through the halls of the center, Law-drones stopped to snap crisp salute at him. He accepted these with faint nods and smiles. These were irkens who would gladly die for the Empire. They were trained to be utterly loyal to the Tallest, much like the Elite Guard, the irkens that crewed the ships in the Armada. Creed often wished that he had his own Elite Guard. The Tallest always kept an entire fleet around the Massive, and Creed wished he had fighters like those. But he coped with what he had. And things weren't terribly hard.

Creed walked through a door that led to the main chamber of the center. This chamber never ceased to amaze him. It was many miles wide, and one could not see across the room with the naked eye. In this massive room, television screens lined the walls, as well as the ceiling and floor. The room was divided into sections, each about a square mile. Each one of the sections was devoted to a single planet, and housed around five-hundred thousand television screens. There were always hundreds of irkens bustling around here, watching the screens for hints of treachery. In some places Creed could see construction equipment. He smiled at the sight. The Empire was constantly expanding, and so the room had to be rebuilt as more sections of screens were added for each planet conquered.

Creed looked down at his feet. He was standing on a clear floor, below which lay thousands of television screens. He could see through the floor and look at the activities of many of the citizens. He often enjoyed doing this. It felt like he was stepping all over them and their pitiful little lives.

Presently he made his way to a small car that would take him to any section of the massive room. He stepped aboard and powered up the small computer screen in the driver's seat. On the screen were the names of the many conquered planets. He scrolled through the list until he found Irk. He pressed on the name and the car sprang to life. He sat down as the car automatically began traveling along a track. The car picked up speed until it was going quite fast and the view of the massive room outside the windows blurred. After five minutes, the car slowed to a stop. Creed stepped out, and found himself in the Irk section. Moments after he stepped out, the car's door closed automatically, and it sped away.

Creed scanned the screens. He knew that Z was there somewhere, and he wanted to be the first to see him.

A Law-drone cried out, and Creed rushed to his side. Sure enough, on one of the thousands of screens, was Z, making his way to the main storage facility of the city, not far from the surveillance center. Creed's heart beat faster. He could see that Z had many explosives strapped to his body. The bomb had come, and it was walking.

"Continue on your duties," he told the Law-drones. "I will deal with this.

He quickly hopped into a car and told it to take him to the entrance. Five minutes later, he was at the entrance, and was hastily radioing his Law-drone strike team.

"This is Creed, calling the Strike Force. We have a code-red situation at the city storage facility. Repeat, code-red at the storage facility. Suit up, irkens. The big one is here."

He switched channels on his radio as he climbed into another car that would take him out of the facility. He radioed the Law-drones attending the Irk security cameras.

"Where is Z now?" he asked.

"_He hasn't moved, sir. He's just standing outside the storage facility. Looks like he's waiting for something."_

Creed frowned. "I'll catch that bastard," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Within five more minutes, he was making his way towards the storage facility. In front of him was the Law-drone strike team, their laser guns drawn. They were all carrying metal shields made from battleplate armor. The storage facility loomed up in front of them, and Creed saw Z standing there, covered with explosives. He drew his gun as the strike team stopped not far from Z and cocked their weapons. 

"Ah, Mr. Creed. We finally see each other in person," greeted Z.

"Yes, and it seems that we have you outnumbered. Bad luck, chummy. We saw you coming."

"Hmm, yes it would appear so," replied Z cheerfully.

"I've waited for this moment for a long time," said Creed. "Now let's see who you really are. Take of your mask."

"No." replied Z coldly. "That is something I will never do. Not until my work is complete."

Creed cocked his weapon. "No, you won't. Your not some little coward. You're like me, you'll go out with a fight."

If he could have seen Z's eyes, Creed was sure the masked irken would have narrowed them.

"The only way that the two of us are connected, Creed," replied Z, "is that you will die by my claws."

"Bullshit!" spat Creed. "How do you expect that to happen? We've got this place under full surveillance. You've got nothing here. No friends, no traps, nothing but you're fancy fighting and your silly little sword. What're you gonna do?" He motioned to the explosives strapped to Z. "Blow yourself? You want to destroy the surveillance center, not us. If you detonate those explosives now, you'll never reach your goal. Of course, with us in the way, you probably won't get very far anyway."

Creed cocked his gun.

"So I ask once more: What're you gonna do? We've got guns, and you haven't."

Z bowed his head and spoke softly, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"No, Creed. What you have are laser bullets, and the hope that when your guns are empty, I will be dead. Because if I'm not…"

He raised his head. Creed could feel the eyes under the mask boring into his own.

"… you won't even have a chance to reload."

Creed steadied his arm and took aim with his gun. He smiled with anticipation as he gave his next order.

"Kill him."

* * *

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Zeekee?" asked Tak. 

The two of them were standing in the cargo hold of the ship that they had arrived in. Zeekee was kneeling down over a control panel and was rapidly typing into the keypad.

"I am thinking that I would be off better for work if not the Tak irken were over mine shoulder watching!" he snapped irritably.

Tak took a second to mentally translate his heavy accent, then stepped back.

Z had given orders to Zeekee concerning what to do with the ship, and then had left for the surveillance center. Zeekee had quickly set about following the programs that Z had outlined, and transferring them to the ship's computers.

After a few more minutes, Zeekee stood and sighed. Putting away his computer, he ushered Tak out of the ship. The two of them stood out in the desert, in the middle of their camp. Zeekee pulled a small device out of his bag, and pressed a few buttons on it. The ship sprang to life, and with a slight power up noise, it flew off into the sky.

"Let us hoping that this plan will work," said Zeekee. "Perhaps is good for you pray to them gods of yours that it does."

* * *

The shots came fast and hard and unforgiving. There were ten Law-drones, along with Creed holding guns on him, and Z was caught under a hail of laser fire. But when it seemed that his time had come, Z pressed a button on one of the devices wrapped around his wrist and a blue shield flickered to life around Z, and the laser bolts simply bounced off of him. Creed's eyes widened as he realized that Z was using a strong shielding technology, but he kept the trigger of his gun pulled, and a constant stream of fire going. Z simply stood there and laughed as the deadly laser fire rolled off of him. Creed pulled out his radio and yelled into it while keeping a constant stream of fire on the masked irken. 

"This is Creed, to central command. Send all available units to the storage facility. Repeat: send all units to the storage facility. We have the terrorist, and are attempting to subdue. We need backup!"

The dispatcher on the other end replied affirmatively, and Creed was filled with confidence. Z would not leave here alive.

The Law-drones kept up the laser fire, as bolt after bolt pelted Z. But Z simply stood there laughing. Though he had a shield around him, the force of the fire caused him to step backward. He fell to his knees, still unharmed, and bowed his head against the force of the lasers. Suddenly, the fire stopped. The Law-drones had depleted their batteries. They all scrambled for reserve batteries stored in their belts.

As they did this, Z raised his head and stood. He nodded his head as though paying his respects and acknowledging that they had tried valiantly.

"My turn."

He drew his sword which buzzed to life with a loud crackling sound, and launched into action.

It was as though Z was a blur. He was everywhere at once. As one Law-drone was hastily reloading, he slit its throat and relieved it of one of its legs.

_One._

He whirled around and caught another in the chest just as quickly, severing several major arteries, and spraying green oily blood everyhere.

_Two._

Whipping out a gun of his own, Z placed two bolts of energy in two of the other Law-drone's foreheads. They both crumbled with blank brain-dead looks in their eyes.

_Three…Four._

As another Law-drone ran towards him with a laser sword, Z caught him in the stomach with a swift kick. As it doubled over and fell to the ground, Z smashed its throat in with his boot, while bashing another with the butt of his laser gun, causing his gun to break into several pieces. The Law-drone's skull broke into several pieces also.

_Five…Six._

He ran another through with his sword…

_Seven._

…And stabbed another in the face.

_Eight._

Whirling around, he relieved the next Law-drone of its head with his sword.

_Nine._

The last Law-drone had finished reloading and was raising his gun when Z spun around and through his sword. It passed straight through the head of the Law-drone, silencing it forever.

_Ten._

Z, now weaponless, turned to face Creed. As he approached the Council member, he saw in the distance an entire patrol of Law-drones running towards the storage facility. Z quickly turned and ran into the storage facility.

"Oh, no you don't you coward!" screamed Creed.

In seconds the entire Law-drone security force was at the scene. They ran into the facility as Creed stood outside and reloaded his weapon.

"Keep him alive, boys!" he yelled after them. He wanted to be the one to kill Z.

Out of nowhere, the explosion came. It tore apart the storage facility, and killed everyone inside. Creed was lucky. He was blown backward by the force of the blast. If he had not stayed behind to reload, he would have been killed.

Creed cursed at himself. Of course. The storage facility was filled with miliatry equipment; which meant the place packed hundreds of explosive devices. All Z had to do was detonate one of them, and the rest followed.

Out of the flames appeared Z. He walked calmly as the flames licked at him, but were deterred by his shield. Creed noticed that the explosives around Z were falling off. To his dismay, he realized that they were fake. Z did not have the bomb. Creed screamed in terror and fury as he raised his weapon and fired. It was futile. He did not have a large gun, just a small sidearm with only enough power for a few shots.

"Die! Die! You bastard, Die!" he yelled, punctuating each word with a shot. The shots simply bounced off of Z.

His gun clicked several times and he realized he was out of power. He lowered the gun in despair.

"Why won't you die?" he whispered hoarsely.

Z towered over him. With a single deft movement he snatched the Council member up by the throat and held him to his masked face.

"This costume is more than a simple show. It is a representation of the ideas of freedom and justice._ Ideas_, Mr. Creed. "

He shook the defeated irken violently.

"And ideas are bulletproof."

Z looked up suddenly and laughed at something he saw. He spun Creed around and lifted him into a headlock. The Council member gasped for air as Z tightened his grip around the irken's neck.

"Look, Mr. Creed! Look! There is your bomb! While you so foolishly chased after me and sent the entire Law-drone with you, my friends were delivering the true blow. I merely played my part."

As Creed's vision faded, he saw a small irken ship racingacross the skytowards the surveillance center. It crashed into the middle of the compound, and exploded violently, destroying everything.

This was the last thing Creed saw before Z effortlessly snapped his neck.

* * *

Zeekee and Tak rejoiced as they saw the ship hit its mark. 

"That were a good plan, no?" said Zeekee.

Tak nodded. "Yeah," she said.

* * *

Z dropped the body of Council member Creed unceremoniously onto the ground. He stood up straight and gazed at the fires raging in the surveillance center. He raised his arms to the sky and sighed. 


	19. The Madness on Irk

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

A/N: -Nice job, Brimtayne for catching that quote in the previous chapter. When I wrote that homage, I had initially been thinking of the story Watchmen, a graphic novel by Alan Moore (who also wrote V for Vendetta), but the quote in Watchmen was based on the quote that Brimtayne submitted in her review, so she was correct nonetheless.

-Also, I have just put up a poll on my profile page about this story, so go and vote!

-There's a few homages and quotes in this chapter, so try and catch them, as always.

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

"The Madness on Irk"

"The time has come," spoke Z, "for us to take our leave of this place."

They were standing in the small camp that Z and Tak had set up a day earlier.

"Since we have no ship," he continued, "We must travel to the nearest spaceport and commandeer one. That should be easy enough."

Tak looked out in the direction of the surveillance center. The entire place was in flames. She knew she should feel glad to see the smoking ruins, and she was, but she felt disturbed somehow. It was as though there was something missing. Then she realized with a jolt what it was: everything was very quiet. She looked around, and knew she should have seen signs of life; there should have been people fleeing the city, or other people trying to reach the city to investigate the cause of the explosion.

"Z?" she said. "Where is everyone? Why don't we see any people?"

Z turned to look at her. "We bombed the surveillance center, and I killed all the Law-drones. We left none alive."

Tak shook her head. "I'm not talking about government workers. I'm talking about the citizens of Irk. Where are they?"

Z turned to stare at the smoke rising in the distance. It was a long time before he spoke again.

"Perhaps it is best if I show you. Suffice to say, you will learn of the madness here when we reach the spaceport."

Tak felt somehow apprehensive as they packed up. Z produced from his pocket a small cube that was just small enough to fit in his claws. He pressed a button on the side and a beam of light shot forth from one end. The beam widened until it was a few feet in diameter. Z began placing things in the rays of light. They were instantly sucked into the small cube.

"Do not put any of your limbs in this light," he said. "This is a little something I borrowed from a friend of mine. It is a machine that compresses large amounts of space into a small area. Thusly, you can store hundreds of cubic miles of things into a small cube. I call it a Storage Cube. A simple name, but it fits."

Tak nodded. "That's cool device, who invented it?"

"Someone who was not irken." Was all Z would say.

Thanks to the small cubic device, they were packed in minutes. Not that there was a whole lot to pack, just some blankets and cooking ware. They were quickly off, and trekking in the direction of another city that could be seen in the distance.

It was not long before they reached the city, and only after about an hour of walking, they stood at the gates. Z paused and looked up. After a moment he sighed and turned to the others.

"Nothing," he told them, "that I can say would ever prepare you for what you are about to see."

The others steeled themselves at these words as Z turned around and pulled the gates open. The large metal doors parted easily. They were not locked.

The gates swung open to reveal a disheartening sight. The city had been completely trashed. All the buildings looked decrepit. There were fires burning everywhere, and the entire place looked like a warzone.

"Oh, gods. What happened here?" said Fin.

Z walked through the gates at a brisk pace.

"This is the city of Santmare. It is the location of the first nanotechnology tests."

Tak looked around. "You said we would see what happened to everyone on Irk when we got here. I still don't see anyone."

"Come, my friends. The spaceport is this way. I have no doubt that on the way there we shall see the damage done here." Z said as he walked off.

The rest of them followed him, looking warily around. Several times Zeekee looked around, sure that someone had been watching him. He narrowed his eyes and hissed in fear. It was as though he could feel eyes on his back.

"I like not this place of evils," he hissed to Tak.

Tak nodded absently. She too, was looking around.

Presently they saw a large fenced structure in the distance. Z pointed it out, saying it was the spaceport. As they approached it, a sudden scrabbling sound caused them to all turn their heads. They saw behind them a small irken stumbling its way down a hill of rubble. It lumbered as though it was drunk, taking no care where it placed its feet, and tripping on most everything. As it drew nearer, Tak gasped. The irken's eyes seemed to stare off at nothing. It had a blank brain-dead look on its face, as though it had died and simply was a walking corpse. Zeekee hissed once more.

"What is that thing, if it be not irken?" he asked fearfully.

Z shook his head sadly. "It is the product of nanotechnology. Mindless irkens that have no life left in their bodies. Come, we must be away quickly."

"Why? It doesn't seem to be much of a threat to us," said Tak.

She spoke to soon. As she said this, the irken leaped suddenly and, holding a sharp piece of jagged metal, moved to stab her. Z jumped into action, kicking the irken to the side before he could attack. The irken flew back a few feet, and fell to the ground. Getting up, it spoke in a voice that sounded as though there was no life behind it.

"We recognize you, defectives," it spoke flatly, "we must terminate."

Again, it jumped, this time leaping at Z. Deftly, Z grabbed him in midair by the wrist. With a sharp movement, Z broke his wrist and grabbed the jagged piece of metal from him, and slit his throat. In just a few seconds, the irken was on the ground, it's life bleeding from its neck. It gasped a few last words before dying.

"Oh, my Tallest, why have you forsaken me? Did not you trust my self-righteous suicide? My Tallest, Tallest, into thy hands I commend my spirit, I cry when-"

Z shook his head. "There you have it, Tak. That is what the Tallest have been using nanotechnology to do. Create mindless irkens who are fanatically loyal to the Empire. What a waste of life. Come, we must hurry. There may be more lurking about."

They ran as fast as they could towards the spaceport in the distance. Behind them, Zeekee could hear more nano-enhanced irkens stumbling behind them. Tak could hear the irkens calling things to them that sent chills up her spine, not because she was scared by what they said, but by how lifeless their voices sounded.

"Come back, defectives. The power of the Tallest shall not rest for you."

"The power of the Tallest compels you…"

"There is no salvation, defectives."

Tak ran faster. When they reached the gates, Z violently pulled them open, only to find that inside the gates were many more irkens. Turning round, he could see irkens coming up behind them. Suddenly, the irkens stopped and stared blankly at the small group. Opening their mouths, they all spoke together, as though the shared the same mind.

"We are Empire. We are One. You are defective. We shall terminate."

Tak looked left and right. They were boxed in.

"Z, what are we going to do?"

"We'll fight our way out. They are slow and stupid. Perhaps we have a chance," the masked irken replied, drawing his laser sword, and throwing guns to Dom and Fin.

Tak gave Zeekee a gun, and drew her own sword. She knew Zeekee hated weapons, but this was not a time to argue morality. People were about to die.

As the irkens closed in, Z leaped forward and removed the head from one of them. As green blood gushed from its neck, Z noticed that when one of the irkens died the others seemed to draw back temporarily. He suddenly realized something.

"Tak!" he said, "The nanites in these irken's bloodstreams are somehow connected on a local area networking system! If you hurt one, you hurt all of them!"

Tak didn't understand the first thing that Z said, but she understood the latter part of his exclamation. She quickly flew into action, stabbing and slashing at irkens. Each time she hit one, the others seemed to recoil in pain.

"Follow me!" yelled Z. He fought his way towards the main building of the spaceport.

The rest followed, and they were soon at the main building. Z cut down the door down with his sword, and they ran inside. Tak looked around. It was some sort of large garage. Z was running towards one of the larger ships. Zeekee was close behind, ready to hot-wire the ship, and get it running.

"Hold them off as long as you can!" called Z as he attempted to hack the lock systems on the ship and get in.

Suddenly realizing something, Z moved aside and let Zeekee work the locking mechanism and then ran to join in the melee. Hacking left and right, Z cut down the mindless irkens down quickly. But they just kept coming. There seemed to be no end in sight.

"Zeekee, it would be nice if you unlocked that ship _now!_" yelled Tak.

"I am hurrying as best as can I, silly irken girl!" came the annoyed reply.

A few seconds later, Zeekee called out that he was finished. The rest of them bolted for the ship, quickly climbed in, and Zeekee locked the door behind them. Seconds after they were in, Tak could hear the banging of irken claws on the door. She breathed a sigh of relief. Zeekee set about quickly powering up the ship and within seconds, Z was at the pilots seat, and they were out of there. Tak looked out the window to see all the nano-enhanced irkens raising their arms to the sky and blankly watching the ship fly away. She shivered at the brain-dead looks on their faces.

After about an hour, with Irk faded far into the distance behind them, Tak sat up and, looking around, asked Z a question.

"Z, where exactly are we going?"

"We are going to Vort. There is much to be done there, and the least of which is to rescue the Invaders," Z replied.

Tak remembered that a few days before, she had witnessed a Council meeting through Z's surveillance center. She recalled that the Tallest had ordered Creed to 'process' the Invaders with nanotechnology. She shivered at the thought of all the Invaders becoming mindless drones of the Empire. She was silent for a few more minutes before she asked a question that had been burning in her mind for a long time.

"Z, just how does nanotechnology work? I know it involves little robots and stuff, but what exactly does it do?"

Z scratched his chin under his mask for a moment before answering.

"Well, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I'll tell you as much as I can. Nanotechnology is just that: _nano_technology. Or, in layman's terms: the technology and research of incredibly small things. Recent advances in the field, led by the late Dr. Del, saw the creation of Nanites, tiny little robots. Microscopic artificially intelligent machines capable of fitting into places that no living irken can even conceive, and manipulate matter at the atomic level, as well as the molecular and cellular level. Do you know what that means?"

Tak nodded. "Yeah, mostly. But what does this have to do with those things that we saw on Irk?"

"I shall elaborate on that in a moment. Now, with the creation of Nanites came a new way of looking at everything. When equipped with tiny cameras, Nanites could go inside things, and show scientists the view of things on the nano level. One could see even the basic structures of matter. This became a great way of studying the matter of the universe. But then, Dr. Del realized that one could use Nanites to study the irken body; Nanites could get inside the body, and study the very way an irken body works, without having to be so invasive. And with this revalation, the field of medicine became more and more elaborate. If an irken was sick, a doctor could simply inject Nanites into his body, allow the nanites to traverse the body, find the problems, and even fix them."

Tak interrupted once more. "I still don't see how this caused what we saw."

"Well, I have just gotten to that part. Red and Purple realized that this technology could be used for their purposes. They devised Nanites that could be injected into the brain, and effectively 'control' the very brains of irkens. And, as we saw, the Nanites are connected to eachother with some kind of internet. This allows for mass controling. The side effect, of course, was that the irken could no longer fuction properly, and while it would be utterly loyal to the empire, their bodily functions would be impaired. But this meant nothing to the Tallest. They only wanted mindless control, and that is what they got. But now they are thinking of using this technology on the Invaders. I cannot allow that. The Invaders, as you know are superior both in mind and body to the rest of the irken population. And, they are angry at the Tallest for imprisoning them under fake charges and false pretenses. They could be an invaluable help to me in my quest. I must rescue them."

Tak nodded. "I agree, Z. I can't stand the thought of irkens that I knew as a smeet becoming like what we saw on Irk."

"Neither can I, Tak."


	20. The Great Escape

A/N: -Congrats to Zimsmostloyalservant for getting every single homage in the previous chapter. Continue finding references, all of you. It's been fun trying to write them in.

-Those of you who got the System of a Down reference (the dying words of the nano-irken were quoted from the song 'Chop Suey!'), congrats. Some of you pointed out that it was a quote from the bible, and you are also correct.

-well, its time to introduce the invaders. I will only be using a few of them, because if i use too many, it will be more difficult for me to write. Not all of them are mentioned in this chapter, but don't worry. There will be more.

-oh, dear! I seem to have forgotten about MIMI!! Poor MIMI...ah, well...I'll just write her into this chapter and pretend that nothing happened.

-ugh...this chapter needed a rousing 'call to arms' speech. I hate writing those. They're so corny. Watever...

-vote on me polls!

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

"The Great Escape"

"As you well know, Vort is now a prison planet."

Z was speaking to his companions as the planet of Vort came into view, and Z began to maneuver the ship into orbit around one of its moons. It had taken about three weeks to travel to Vort. Turning to the passengers in the back, he continued.

"It wasn't always this way, however. Once Vort and Irk had an agreement with each other. The Vortians were masterminds of the biological sciences, yet lacked the equipment with which to perform necessary experiments to further their education in said field of study. The irkens, who were dubbed by other races as "machinery masters" agreed with the Vortians to aid them in their quest for knowledge, with the expectancy that the Vortians would repay them in kind. This became a symbiotic relationship between the two races. And perhaps the greatest achievements in technology and medicine were created on Vort. Of course, you all know about Caper Cove. That was one of the many different outposts created by this agreement between races. But when Red and Purple became Tallest, they began Operation: Impending Doom, and its predecessor, Operation: Impending Doom Two. Under this operation, ties between Irk and Vort were severed, and the Tallest conquered Vort, turning it from the once beautiful congregation of learning to a prison planet. In fact, I believe it was Invader Larb who was responsible for it's downfall. But this planet just became a garbage dump. Just another hideous treachery performed by our most despicable Tallest."

Tak interrupted. "Z, why are you telling us this? Some of us already know this."

"Because once we do what we are about to do, there is no going back. I just want you all to know what you are fighting for: the end of this reign of terror. I want you to feel as I feel the resentment towards Red and Purple. Because once we open those prison doors, there's no going back."

All of them nodded.

"We understand," said Dom.

"But all this niceness is good, then why are we orbiting the moon of Vort, and not Vort itself?" asked Zeekee.

"We are in a slingshot orbit," replied Z.

"Meh?"

"A slingshot orbit is when you orbit a moon of a planet, use the orbit to gather speed and momentum, then break orbit when you are facing the planet, using the speed and momentum you have gathered to enter the planet's atmosphere more quickly. I hope that by doing this, we will land quietly. I seem to have left our cloaking device on the other ship, you know, the one that exploded."

"Ah, I sees," replied Zeekee.

They were all silent as the ship slipped around the moon, gathering speed. When the planet came into view, Z broke orbit, and blasted towards Vort. Within minutes, they were less than a hundred miles from the surface. Z killed all engines and opened all air brakes and parachutes, letting them float gently to the ground, landing with nothing more than a soft bump.

"Welcome to the galaxy's largest penitentiary," said Z, smiling widely.

But then, he was always smiling.

* * *

Due to the fact that Z had tapped into the Empire's surveillance systems, he knew where everything important was. That was just the case on Vort. It was as though he had a map of the entire galaxy, down to each city, inside his head. He was never lost, and always sure of himself. This was indeed the case as he led the small band of irkens (and one large rat) towards one of the many millions of buildings on Vort.

The small gang had taken some time to gather weapons and other supplies from the ship before striking off in the direction that Z led. They were all well armed, including Zeekee, who seemed very unhappy about the prospect. Z had told them to take as many weapons as they could carry, so that they could pass some off to the Invaders that they were rescuing. Tak had decided to let MIMI stay in the ship. She didn't want to risk MIMI accidentally making friends someone dangerous. You never knew with MIMI.

As the building loomed up in the distance, Tak could see two guards at the gates, looking very bored. As they drew nearer, she saw that it was not bored looks on their faces, but blank staring ones. She realized quickly that these were nano-enhanced soldiers. Z often referred to them as 'nano-drones.' Looking up, they saw the group walking closer. In unison, they raised their guns and spoke in the same flat voice.

"Halt. You will drop your weapons and await imminent termination."

Tak, suddenly realizing something, ran forward, a light flashing across her eyes. She sent out some of her psionic power, in the attempt of controlling their minds. Z pulled her back.

"Don't waste your energy, Tak," he said. "They haven't any mind left to control."

With that, he raised his small pistol and quickly buried two bolts in each of the nano-drone's heads. They crumpled to the ground without a sound. As they walked by, Fin took their weapons.

"Waste not, want not…" he muttered to nobody in particular.

Z cut a large rectangle in the gates with his sword, and the group stepped inside.

Z led them past the gates into the compound. There were many vehicles lying about inside the walls of the compound, and they seemed to be in great disuse. Tak wondered if any of them even worked anymore. Zeekee handled all the electronically locked doors from there, as Z was afraid that cutting them down might prematurely set off the alarms. Z led the gang through various twists and turns, seeming to have the entire prison map memorized. At last, they came to a long dark hall, at the end of which was a small door. Z crossed the hall and inspected the door.

"Hmmm. Zeekee, this door appears to be locked electronically. Lucky for us, the locking mechanism is right here, next to the door. I thought perhaps it would be more complicated than this, but if you can hack this lock, we may be able to get out of here without attracting to much attention."

Zeekee scurried up and began inspecting the lock. He chuckled to himself and rubbed his paws together. Within minutes, he was finished. The lock emitted a small beep, and the door swung open.

"Come," said Z. "Let us meet our friends. I do believe they will be quite… oh, my!"

As Z stepped through the doorway, he let out a gasp. There were hundreds of irkens crowded into the room. They barely fit in the holding cell, which was rather large. As Tak and the rest of the group stepped inside, they to looked on in awe.

"What is all this?" asked Fin. "I thought there were supposed to be Invaders here? There aren't that many!"

"T-Tak?" rasped a feeble voice. "Is it really you, Tak?"

Tak looked around, searching for the bearer of the weak voice.

"Over here!" came the voice again, from the far corner of the room. Tak walked quickly over to the huddled figure.

"Skoodge?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that's me."

She barely recognized the Invader. It looked as though he hadn't eaten much. In fact, Tak would not have recognized him, were it not for his voice, and the small stain on his shirt that he could never seem to get rid of.

"Gods, Skoodge, you're so thin!" Tak had only met Skoodge once, after the Zim's death. He had been lounging around in the bars and clubs of Foodcourtia after the Tallest had almost killed him by firing him at Blorch. He had been a drunk then, until Tak saw him and (for reasons she herself had not understood) given him some money and convinced him (with a little psion power) to get a life. Unbeknownst to her, he had from that moment considered her to be his greatest help.

Skoodge chuckled a bit and stood up, his legs shaking.

"I haven't had a decent meal for months," he said.

Looking across the room, his eyes widened.

"Is that-"

"Z? Yes," Tak answered.

"Cool."

Zeekee came ambling over, and gave a gun to Skoodge, relieved to finally be rid of his weapons. He had been passing out weapons to all the irkens who could carry them.

Z called out in a loud voice to all the irkens.

"I don't know who most of you are, but I ask that you all come with us. Whoever you are, I'm sure it would rile the Tallest no end if you escaped, and it is thusly in my best interest to secure your security. Now, come! All of you on your feet. Those of you who can carry a weapon, take one from us, and follow me. We are leaving now."

To punctuate this statement, alarms all over the compound began blaring. Looking up to the ceiling, Z saw a camera in the corner of the room. The security guards had been watching all along. He swore in irken, and then turned to leave.

"We must hurry! The guards will be here very soon."

The irken prisoners who had weapons now moved in front of those who did not, fanning out and holding their weapons up, protecting the unarmed. As the large group rounded the corner, they were met by a squad of nano-drones. The armed prisoners quickly and efficiently dispatched them. As they passed the squad of dead nano-drones, several prisoners stooped to gather weapons. They moved methodically, and without a sound as they relieved the dead irkens of their weapons. Quietly, each newly-armed irken quickly inspected their weapon, loaded it, and shouldered it with the expertise of any Invader. Z noticed this, and wondered briefly what the stories of these other prisoners were, but banished the thought when he saw another couple of squads drawing near.

"The fight begins now!" he yelled, and ducked as laser fire pierced the air above his head.

The unarmed irkens ran for cover as the armed ones let loose a hail of fire, cutting down drone after drone. Each time a prisoner was killed, and dropped his or her weapon, another would come and pick up the weapon and begin firing. Z rolled behind an opened door for protection as he reloaded his pistol. He found himself next to Skoodge, who was looking up at him in awe. Z caught sight of the prisoners fighting and leaned over to Skoodge to ask a question.

"These extra prisoners that were incarcerated with you and your fellow Invaders, who are they? They seem to be excellent fighters."

Skoodge slammed a fresh battery into his rifle and stood up. "I'll tell you later, if we ever get out of here."

Z stood up after him, and ran out from cover to fire once more, only to find that all the drones were dead. He motioned for the prisoners to follow him once again. As they passed the large mass of dead bodies, the prisoners stooped once more to take the drone's weapons. Now nearly every irken was armed in the group.

And it was a good thing, too. As soon as they reached the doorway out of the compound and exited, they found themselves facing an army of nano-drones, all staring vacantly at the prisoners, weapons raised. The mass of fugitives quickly took cover behind the various decrepit vehicles lying around, and began firing.

It wasn't much of a battle. Though the nano-drones possessed great numbers, the prisoners fought with a skill that was seemingly unmatched. Within minutes there were scores of dead drones everywhere, and only a few dead fugitives. Z stood and called to the mass of irkens.

"The battle is won, my friends! Now come! Follow me to my ship where I shall provide for you a decent meal, and tell you of the future!"

With that he walked off in the direction of the exit.

* * *

"You must tell me what you know of these extra irkens," spoke Z.

Z, Tak, and the Invaders of Operation: Impending Doom Two were sitting together and discussing what to next.

"Who are these irkens who fight so well? And why were they imprisoned with you?" he asked.

"Well, it's like this," began Skoodge. "About two weeks ago, while you were probably still flying here, the Tallest held a Great Assessment. They went to Devastis, to evaluate all the irken recruits. They then selected those who were considered to be the best soldiers: smart, fast-thinking, great fighters. Then they threw them in prison with the Invaders. I think they intended to make them into those walking-dead things that tried to stop us."

"Why would they want to do that?" asked Tak. "The nanites they inject those things with just turn the irkens into mindless zombies. Why take the best and brightest soldiers, just to make them stupid and worthless?"

Z mused on this for a moment. "I do not believe that the intention was simply to make them into the automatons that we have long since encountered. I believe that they were trying to rid themselves of possible mutiny."

"What?" asked Invader Larb. "That doesn't make any sense at all.

"Well, think about it," said Invader Spleen, scratching the band-aid on his gargantuan head. "If there were soldiers who had the minds to think for themselves, and the will to fight ferociously, wouldn't the Tallest fear them? What if, one day, those smart soldiers decided they didn't like the harsh rule of the Tallest? Then the Tallest would have a formidable enemy to fight. Remember what Z said? I'll quote for you: 'ignorance became the ultimate tool of this government.'"

"I do sincerely believe," said Z, tapping his own head with a thin claw, "That you and I think on the same level. I am glad to see some one who can quote me word-for-word."

Spleen nodded. "You spoke, and I listened. But Z, I've only seen your T.V. broadcasts. I've heard that you told a story to Inspector Fin about the Tallest, but none of us prisoners have heard this story. Some of us would like to hear it."

Z nodded. "Perhaps this is best. I shall weave for you this story of which you speak."

Z stood up and climbed on top of the ship that he and his friends had stolen from Irk and called out to the recently rescued prisoners.

"Come, my friends! Gather 'round, for I have a tale to tell thee."

The irken prisoners grouped around the ship, their antennae pricking forward curiously as they waited for Z to continue.

"Speak, we shall listen!" called one of them from the back.

"So are thou to revenge, upon hearing what I have to tell." replied Z.

Tak rolled her eyes. She could sense a dramatic speech coming on. She recalled that Z loved to quote authors from different planets. She had no doubt he would now. Sure enough, Z began speaking in what appeared to be a dramatic poem.

"_I could a tale unfold,_

_whose lightest word would harrow thy soul_

_and freeze thy blood._

_Make thine eyes, like stars, start from their spheres_."

The prisoners exchanged incredulous looks, but did not interrupt as Z continued.

_"And cause your skin to crawl,_

_like the quills upon a fretful porcupine._

_Notice you, that I_

_wear this mask of the Tall, whom you so lovingly_

_refer to as Spork."_

The prisoners nodded. They seemed almost entranced by the way he spoke.

_"If thou didst every thy dear Tallest Spork revere,_

_revenge his foul and most unnatural murder!"_

Z now began to speak in a normal tone, yet his words were no less entrancing.

"A long while ago, Red and Purple dared to dream of becoming rulers. I shall mince no words when I say, that they themselves created that which you have come to refer as the 'infinite mass consuming monster.' They set this beast loose on your Tallest Spork, and when they did not become leaders after he, killed the next Tallest. When at last they were leaders, they dared to go further, creating the hell in which we now live. You know of the injustices the Tallest have done to you! I ask you to stand with me, and fight against them!"

"What about Zim?" called another voice. "I thought it was his fault."

"I can tell you from the bottom of my very soul, that Zim was an innocent irken. I know this truly, better than any of you could ever understand," Z answered.

Z looked out into the distance and pointed in the direction of the ocean, which was not very far away.

"And one can see from here, the beginning of it all: Caper Cove. A small research facility which lies near the shore of the ocean."

Z paused and looked off at the distant building. Then he turned and addressed the escapees once more.

"I have told you in simple words the truth. If you believe me, and would seek as I seek to remove the Tallest from their place, then remain where you are. If you are fine with where you are, and enjoy your ignorance and oppression, then you might as well go back to the prison and await bieng made into a mindless servant."

He waited a moment, and when it was clear all the irkens were with him he spoke again.

"I will lead you to freedom. Will you follow? Raise your voices to the winds, and let me know you shall fight for riteousness!"

The irkens raised their claws to the sky and yelled. Z nodded.

"Then we shall march together as one, and deliver the first strike. Tomorrow, at dawn, we shall destroy Caper Cove."


	21. The Inundation

A/N: We are nearing the end of this particular fic; only a few chapters to go. Better start voting on me polls!

-This chapter took a long time to write. I didn't want it to stand out from the others for being silly, but I still wanted some comedic relief from all the action that's been going on for the past couple of chapters.

-There are two big parodies in this chapter that last all throughout this chapter, as well as the next. I'm pretty sure they will be quite obvious to you. Can you find them?

* * *

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

"The Inundation"

That next morning, when the sun rose on the horizon, Z roused the irkens. He chose only a few to go with him, as he could not take hundreds of irkens to Caper Cove; it would have been too cumbersome. He chose Tak, Fin, Dom, Zeekee, Invaders Tenn, Skoodge, Spleen, Larb, and Flobee, as well as ten of the other irkens to go with him. He could tell that all the irkens present wanted to go with him; they were restless. It was not long before the score of rebels were underway. During the trek, Skoodge and Z talked. It was obvious that Skoodge revered Z. It was not hard to; Z was very tall in his costume, and was surrounded by an air of authority and confidence.

"How is it, exactly, did you come to be the person you are?" asked Skoodge. "I have always wanted to know what sort of irken lay behind the mask. I hope I'm not too pushy."

Z shook his head. "Little Invader, I will soon reveal to everyone my true purpose, but now is not the time. We are on to Caper Cove."

"Why are we going to destroy this place, anyway?" Tak asked.

"Ah, it is not the building that I want destroyed, but that vile creature that the Tallest created. That is one of the greatest weapons that they possess, and if we are to rebel against the Tallest, we must destroy it. I had hoped that with the help of the Invaders I would have been able to do so, and with all these extra irkens, this will be easier than I could have hoped."

Skoodge spoke up once more. "Can I ask you a favor, Z?"

"Indeed."

"I, and the others here would like it if you no longer called us 'Invaders.' That hateful title is nothing more than a reminder of what the Tallest made us into."

Z nodded. "I understand completely. I, too once fell under the spell of the Tallest's power. I was a soldier who was offered glory, if only he was obedient and worthy. I was a fool. I realized that the truth behind the Tallest's lies the day that Zim died. His lamenting suicide opened my eyes, just as I opened the eyes of the citizens of this Empire."

Skoodge nodded and looked forward. They were nearly to the gates of the research facility. Tak shook her head and muttered something about always having to break down gates. Looking around, Zeekee realized that there were no nano-drones around.

"Z irken!" he hissed, "I see none of your nano things about. Where be they?"

"I do not know, Zeekee. It is possible that this facility is not guarded by nano-drones. It could be defended by the Elite Guard."

"The what?" said Zeekee, louder.

"The Elite Guard are the Tallest's handpicked soldiers, like the Invaders, only more trusted," answered Skoodge. "Long ago, the Tallest selected thousands of elite warriors that they trusted with their lives. Those irkens, called the 'Elite Guard' are the ones who crew the Massive, and the ships in the Armada."

Zeekee shivered. "I know not about yous, but though that makes me afeared."

"The Elite Guard would be no match for us, Zeekee," comforted Z. "The Tallest chose only those that the trusted the most. In doing so, they had to choose irkens that were not the best of warriors, sacrificing fighting abilities for trust. This is much unlike the the irkens here. We would stand a good chance if this place were guarded by them."

But this was not to be the case. It seemed as though the research facility was deserted. They had reached the gates, where once more Z cut a rectangle in the huge metal doors. They walked through, into a dark building. As their large eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, they found themselves standing in what appeared to have once been the lobby. But now, all that remained of the once-lavish room was a small receptionist desk that sported a dusted sign which read "Caper Cove Enrichment Facility, Biological Research Outpost." The metal plating that once were the walls were torn away and one could see pipes and wiring hanging out. There was no doubt that the place had not been used in years.

Suddenly all the lights came on with full brighness, momentarily blinding the twenty irkens. They all raised their weapons, looking around warily as their eyes adjusted once more to the painful brightness. As their vision returned, Zeekee hissed at everyone to look up. They all raised their eyes upwards to see a floating sphere above their heads. It was about the size of a small ball, much like the ones smeets are given to play violent dodge ball with. It almost perfectly spherical, save for that it had a large red indentation in it that looked as though it were some sort of eye. This eye looked around at all the irkens as the metal orb bobbed up and down.

"Surprise!" it cried in a metallic voice laced with genuine giddiness. "Welcome to the Caper Cove Science Enrichment Center!"

One of the irkens spooked and shot it twice with a laser pistol. The shots merely bounced off the globe and hit the walls. The ball swiveled around so that its eye could peer at the offender.

"I say, old chap! That hurt my feelings!" it spoke, its eye flickering red with each word. "Wait a minute! I have feelings! I am a real boy!"

The orb began flying loops and giggling happily.

The irkens at once realized that the little ball was no danger to them, and lowered their weapons.

"Kinda reminds you of MIMI, doesn't it?" said Tak, nudging Z with her elbow.

"Among other things," said Z absently. He then looked up at the orb. "I say, little fellow, could you tell us what exactly it is you are, and your purpose here?"

The orb stopped whizzing around at once and spoke in an amiable tone.

"Greetings!" he said cheerfully, "I am 343 Guilty Spork! I am an Orbitron, a simple artificially-intelligent being designed for the purpose of maintaining this facility. And if I say so myself, I am a genius!"

The orbitron giggled and whizzed in a circle before continuing. "You are no doubt here to collect the Weapon, or dispose of it, are you not?"

"What was that?" asked Z, confused.

The orb stopped moving and scanned Z with its eye. "You are a Tallest, are you not? So, of course Red and Purple have passed on their legacy to you!" it asked.

Z realized that it believed his costume was genuine, so he played along. He figured that the little orbitron had not communicated with other worlds for a long time, and probably knew nothing about what was going on outside. He figured that this was also the reason for why the little thing was acting so weird. Weird things happen to thinking beings when they do not communicate with others for long periods of time.

"Er, um, yes! The Late Tallest Red and Purple relayed some information to me, but refresh my mind. Besides, these irkens here no nothing of it, so you might as well tell them too."

"Very well, my Tallest. I can do that. I am, after all, a genius."

Z was sure that if it could have, the orbitron would have winked at him.

"When the Tallest were finished using their great Weapon, they did not want to dispose of it, in case they may later need it. Thusly, they vacated this research outpost, and redesigned it for the sole purpose of containing the creature that consumed all mass. They left me behind, in case the day would dawn when their predecessors would come along and have to use or destroy the great Weapon. Which are you here for?"

"Destroy," answered Z simply.

"Wonderful! Simply Wonderful!" giggled 343 Guilty Spork. "I absolutely LOVE destroying things, don't you, old chap?"

Z nodded absently. He realized that he did not have any clue where, in the huge facility, the Weapon was being kept, or how to destroy it. He was going to need the help of this eccentric little robot. Well, this was going to be interesting. The orbitron began speaking again.

"Well then, if that is your decision, then I must relay to you some instructions. Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Now, I was specifically designed with no limbs or means to touch and move important machinery associated with the Weapon, for the simple reason that the Tallest did not want me to have any way of tampering with the creature. Thusly, I can only aid you in your quest. As I am in control of this facility, I can at least open, close, and lock doors for you, as well as turn on lights, and turn them off. But all the button pushing must be done by you. Do you understand?"

Z nodded. "Yes. And you can begin by taking us to the Weapon. Lead on, fellow! We shall follow you."

"You like me! You really like me!" it exclaimed happily.

The orb began bobbing its way through the air towards a door at the far end of the lobby. The score of irkens followed it, each looking more and more bemused by the second. In the very least, the little orbitron's manner was odd.

343 Guilty Spork hovered its way towards the door, humming to itself as it went. Suddenly, it smacked straight into the door it was about to go through, and fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Quickly regaining its composure (as best a floating ball can) it was quickly in the air again, making noises that sounded like it were clearing its throat.

"Er, ahem. It would appear that this door is locked. I shall unlock it, have no fear!"

With that, it flew above the door, and pressed itself into a round indentation in the wall. Fitting itself into the dent, which looked as though it were made to perfectly fit the small orb, it made several clicking sounds. In seconds, the door was open, and the little sphere was back to floating along and humming to itself a tuneless ditty. Zeekee rolled his eyes and muttered something about outdated technology before following.

It continued on like this for quite a while; the group followed 343 Guilty Spork, and it opened doors and turned on lights for them as they walked along. This whole experience was uneventful, and would have been very boring, were it not for the fact that 343 Guilty Spork said something interesting every few seconds.

At last they reached the end of a great hall, and stood before the largest door that they had seen as of yet. Once more, Z told 343 Guilty Spork to open the door.

"No!" came the reply. "You want this door open, you _NEED _this door open. Say it with more feeling and this time, _make…me…cry…_"

Z sighed and said, "343 Guilty Spork, master of this installation, I command thee now to open this door and clear the path so that we may continue in our quest."

"Yay!"

343 Guilty Spork hovered in front of this door for a long time, examining it and saying little. Presently it spoke up once more as it turned to leave.

"Through some inevitable flaw in the building plan of this Enrichment Center, the control panel for this door is located farther away than normal. Please wait here for me to open this door."

With that, it whizzed away at a speed that wouldn't seem capable of a small floating ball. Less than a minute later, clicking sounds could be heard coming from the door, indicating that the locking mechanism was being deactivated.

"Huh, what a weird little thing," said Skoodge.

"I am not weird," game 343 Guilty Spork's voice over the facility's intercom system. "Just because I am not there, does not mean I cannot hear you, you mean little bully!"

Sounds of sniffling and stifled sobs emitted from the speakers, along with static.

"¿Por qué fallecemos?" wondered the voice of the orbitron as it cried.

Just as quickly as it had begun, the sad sounds were silenced, and were replaced by 343 Guilty Spork's normal cheerful voice.

"Ah, there we go! The door is open! You may proceed through."

The nineteen irkens and one rat walked through the door, and found themselves in a control room. It seemed to be some sort of control center that overlooked another room, possibly a test area, but the windows were all blocked off by metal flaps. A loud banging sound came from above, and all the irkens looked upward and raised their weapons. Overhead, they could see some sort of ventilation shaft rattling about, as though something were trying to get out. Presently the grating fell away from the ventilation shaft and out floated the orbitron. Upon seeing them all with their guns trained on it, it brightly greeted them with an "Oh! Hello!" and carried on whizzing about the room, apparently looking for something.

"Oh, dear me, where is it? After all these years I sometimes forget- Ah! Here it is!"

343 Guilty Spork hovered in midair over one of the various control panels, excited. He instructed Z to push various buttons, until the control panel opened up and a small green cylinder emerged.

"Retrieve the Key, young Tallest," said 343 Guilty Spork with reverence.

Z gingerly picked up the Key, not wanting to drop it. 343 Guilty Spork flew up to the wall and inserted himself into another one of the many spherical indentations in the wall, and began working controls. There was a beeping sound, and the metal plates in front of the windows were raised, and the group could finally see out the windows.

They all gasped in wonder. Looking out the windows, they could view a huge room. It was apparently some sort of containment or testing chamber, and it was probably one of the largest in the facility. There were no doors or windows, save one security door at the far end. But it was not the size of the room that was impressive, but what was inside it.

Inside, lazing on the floor, was It. The Blob. The Weapon. And it was immense. It fit in the room, but only barely. It looked like a giant mass of matter, in a vaguely circular shape. Atop the great blob was what appeared to resemble some sort of head, upon which was a mouth. Flying around this giant "head" were several airborne machines that sported battle-cruiser grade laser weapons. These flying machines whizzed around the head, shooting their lasers into the mouth of the Weapon.

"What are those things doing?" asked Tak, indicating the flying machines.

"Those are Arbiters," replied 343 Guilty Spork. "I designed them long ago to be guards of this facility. But when no one even attempted to attack here, I realized their effectiveness was compromised. But then, I found out that the Weapon, which has an insatiable appetite for anything that it can touch, enjoyed eating the lasers beams that I had equipped the Arbiters with. Thusly, the Arbiters are feeding it Lasers."

"I see."

"I am a genius!"

As they observed this wondrous sight, one of the Arbiters got too close to the great maw of the Weapon, and it ate it.

"Oh dear, how unfortunate," said 343 Guilty Spork as it watched this. Suddenly, its eye brightened and it cheerfully spoke up again.

"As part of an optional protocol, Caper Cove is pleased to present an amusing fact: This being, which was nicknamed 'the inundation' by Tallest Red and Purple, is capable of consuming anything at an alarming rate. Isn't that interesting?"

There was a pause as they all looked down at the Thing. 343 Guilty Spork continued his nonsense talking.

"While learning, and sometimes fun, are the primary goals of the Caper Cove Research Enrichment Facility, serious injuries may occur. We here at Caper Cove promise to provide a safe environment. When this is impossible, we promise to provide useful advice. For example, direct contact with The Inundation may result in irreversible side effects such as death. Please try to avoid such contact"

Z looked down at the Key he was holding. It faintly glowed in his claws. Turning around, he tapped the orbitron lightly.

"What must we do now?" he asked.

"More questions? Splendid! I would happy to assist you. We must now take the Key down to the core of this facility, and insert it into the core, to activate the destruction mechanism."

"Very well, lead on."

"Yipee! The rest of you may stay here. We shall be back shortly."

The two of them left, the irken following the orbitron, and closed the door behind them.

Zeekee wrenched his eyes away from the spectacle, and explored the control room. He was excited about using some of the computers; never before had me had the opportunity to use such advanced technology. He quickly scurried over to the most important-looking machine and powered it up, excitedly searching the hard drives for information.

The screen flickered on and displayed the desktop, which was full of data folders, files, and various programs. Zeekee scanned the names of these, deciding which to click on first. His eye caught on one folder in particular: "The Inundation: Reclamation/Destruction procedures." Zeekee shrugged and clicked on it. This was as good a place to start as any; after all, they were here for this reason. His click brought up a folder that contained two files and a folder. The files were named 'Construction of Orbitron 343 Guilty Spork,' and 'Construction of Containment Facility.' The folder was titled 'Instructions for 343 Guilty Spork.' Zeekee clicked on the folder, which opened up to display several text files of instructions to the orbitron. Zeekee read the section labeled "Destruction of The Inundation."

What he read there froze his blood in his veins.

* * *

Z followed 343 Guilty Spork out the door and through several twisting halls. Z was finding it difficult to remember all the directions, but 343 Guilty Spork seemed to know the entire facility well enough. As the orbitron led him down a flight of stairs, Z saw in the distance some sort of force field. It was a wall that was constructed of thousands of little sparks of light, floating about in the shape of a wall. Z hesitated to go near it; he had never seen something like it before. 343 Guilty Spork noticed this and slowed its pace to speak.

"Before you is the Caper Cove Science Vaporization Grid. It is a security measure I designed myself. It is programmed to vaporize materials that are not allowed to pass. For example: those wishing to do harm to this facility. Please halt while I program it to allow your DNA signature to pass through."

There was a pause before the orbitron ordered him to walk through.

Z slowly approached the Vaporization Grid and passed through. He felt a slight tingling sensation, as the floating sparks nudged his body, recognized him as a non-threat, and moved on. 343 Guilty Spork followed him through, cheerfully telling him more about the Grid.

"Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any normal procedure, but is an unintended side effect of the Caper Cove Enrichment Research Facility Material Vaporization Grid, which may, in semi-rare cases, emancipate dental fillings, crowns, dental fixtures, and teeth. Now, please move quickly to the opposing end of the room, as the effects of prolonged exposure to the Vaporization Grid has not been tested on animals, and has therefore not been proven to be safe."

Not for the first time that day, Z rolled his eyes behind his mask.

The two of them passed through the door, one carrying the Key, the other cheerfully babbling about the Research Facility. They continued to descend flights of stairs, delving deeper and deeper into the heart or Caper Cove. Very soon, they came to the end of the stairs, and stood/hovered before a large door. 343 Guilty Spork opened this, and they passed through into a large room that looked as though it housed the very center of all power to the facility.

"This room houses the very center of all power to the facility," said 343 Guilty Spork.

The orbitron excitedly whizzed over the center of the room, where there was a small glowing orifice over a huge round machine.

"This is the very core of the facility, where we shall begin the procedure."

The orbitron looked down and spoke softly, embarrassed.

"Unfortunately, my usefulness to this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units with my classification to… perform a task as important as the reunification of the Key with the core. That final step is reserved for you, Tallest. Step forward, and arm the destruction sequence by reunifying the Key with the core."

Z stepped forward and placed the cylinder in the indentation. There was a deep rumbling below the floor, and he could feel the vibrations through his feet. 343 Guilty Spork began floating back the way they had come.

"Come now, Tallest. There is one last thing we must do before we can finish what we've started here."


	22. Because We Die

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

A/N: -Amazing. Truly Amazing. Nearly everyone that commented pointed out that there were quotes from the game Halo spoken by 343 Guilty Spork (lol, I had fun coming up with that name). BUT!! Not one single person pointed out the completely obvious Portal references. Does nobody play Portal? If you don't, I highly suggest you get it. Anyways, many of 343 Guilty Spork's lines were taken from the game Portal, which is a hilarious puzzle/adventure/first person shooter/dark comedy game developed by Valve software, makers of the infamous Half-Life series. PLAY IT…..is fun.

-Well, the results for the Polls are in, and nobody wants me to kill off Z. Oh, well, I guess I'll keep his epic death to myself, lol. Don't worry, I wasn't really considering it. I guess from this point on, the V for Vendetta storyline ends, because I'm taking this fic in a different direction.

-A few people voted that I kill off Zeekee. I don't think so, I like him too much.

-This chapter deals with antimatter. I don't know a whole lot about it, and if you do, and realize that I've made a scientific mistake, feel free to correct me. But this is what I understand: antimatter is the inverse of matter; the exact opposite. When antimatter comes into contact with matter, they cancel each other out, and the matter disappears, resulting in an explosion.

-This chapter also has two phrases in Spanish. I don't speak the language, so if I made some mistake with spelling, or grammar, correct me.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

"Because We Die"

Z and 343 Guilty Spork reentered the control room to find the other irkens and Zeekee looking shocked and angry. Z looked around, confused to see such looks, while the orbitron merely exclaimed, "Oh! Hello!"

"What's going on?" asked Z. "Why all the looks? 343 Guilty Spork and I were just about to-"

"Destroy the Inundation?" finished Tak. "Yeah, you're not going to want to do that."

"What are you talking about, Tak?"

Tak nodded at Zeekee. "He'll tell you."

343 Guilty Spork bobbed up and down happily. "Oh, goody! A story!"

Zeekee began explaining everything to Z. Though some of the irkens present couldn't even begin to understand what he was saying, Tak and Z could decipher his accent well enough.

"It's like dis, Z. I were reading the stuffs on that computer over there, and I open up little folders with instructions for the orbitron thing. I read this whole text document on how to destroy the weapon thing. Ees no good, sir!"

Tak continued for him. "I don't completely understand how it works, but apparently inserting the Key into the Core unlocks the mechanism that destroys the Inundation. Then, you come up to this control room, and press a series of buttons and stuff. This starts the machine."

"I don't understand, Tak. Why is this objectionable?" asked Z.

"I'm almost there. Anyways, this machine is housed below the facility. Under the Research Center, is another containment facility that holds a small load of antimatter. Not a lot, but enough to begin the next process: Once activated, the machine uses the existing antimatter to somehow generate more and more antimatter, and then when it reaches a critical point, releases the antimatter out of the containment facility. And we both know what happens when antimatter comes into contact with matter."

She mimicked an explosion with her claws.

"Oh, gods," breathed Z. He turned to 343 Guilty Spork. "You knew of this?"

"Why, of course!" answered the little sphere, sounding surprised.

"But, antimatter in that amount coming into contact with matter underground could destroy this planet! What about the irkens living here? Will they die too?"

The orbitron whizzed around in a circle before speaking.

"Technically, this installation's antimatter generator has a maximum effective radius of about three-hundred thousand miles. But once the explosion has finished, the solar system will be quite devoid of mass. Or, at least any mass large enough to sustain the Inundation. But you already knew that. I mean, how couldn't you?"

Z was shocked. He had almost killed them all.

343 Guilty Spork was now confused.

"I don't understand. We have followed the destruction procedure to the letter. You were with me every step of the way. What is all this, then?"

Z stepped close to the orbitron and spoke clearly, "We cannot go on with this. We must find another way to destroy the Inundation."

"Impossible!" exclaimed 343 Guilty Spork, "Absolutely impossible! Protocol clearly states-"

"Damn the protocol!" yelled Skoodge, speaking up for the first time in a long while.

"We can't just let everyone here die," agreed Tenn.

343 Guilty Spork looked around wildly, looking more and more agitated by the moment.

"We cannot breach protocol! We must activate the antimatter generator!"

The irkens all shook their heads. The orbitron could not believe this. He turned to Z, resolve showing in his eye.

"Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable! Protocol dictates action, I see now that helping you was wrong! You are the successor of my makers, inheritor of all they left behind. You are Tallest, but this decision is mine!" Upon speaking this, it made as if to leave.

Suddenly, Zeekee came up behind the orbitron with a metal pipe that he had pulled out of the wall. Jumping up, he hit the orbitron on its back. 343 Guilty Spork fell to the ground with an "ouch!" As it was rising up once more, Zeekee struck it down again. The rat continued to strike it with the pipe over and over until it was full of dents and holes, and its eye was hanging out by the wires.

The irkens were all very surprised by this, and as Zeekee stood, breathing heavily over the twitching ball of metal, the irkens stared at him with wide eyes. Z walked slowly up to 343 Guilty Spork and knelt beside it. The orbitron spoke in a faint metallic voice.

"¿Por qué fallecemos?" it asked.

Z stood and answered, "Porqué fallecemos."

Zeekee brought the pipe down on the orbitron one last time, and it's eye winked out forever.

"Come, Zeekee," said Z, "we must find another way to destroy the Inundation."

Zeekee led Z over to the computer that he had just been using, and showed Z all the information there was on the Inundation in the entire databank. They sat there, pouring over the information. After a few minutes, Zeekee started, as though he had just realized something.

"Er, Z? There is something I forget to mentioning."

"And that is…?" asked Z, not taking his eyes off the computer screen.

"Well, you sees, I were reading the instructions that the Tall ones give to 343 Guilty Spork, and that are how I find out the way 343 Guilty Spork was to destroy the blob thing. But I also see something that ees confusing."

Z now turned to look at Zeekee. "Yes?"

"It were the instructions on how to release the Inundation. There were two documents on thees here computers. One were called 'Descruction of the Inundation,' and the other was 'Liberation and Use of the Inundation.'"

Z nodded. "Yes. I remember the orbitron asking me whether I wanted to use or destroy the Weapon, so it follows that he should have instructions for both situations."

"Ees no god sir, my mind ees confuse."

"Why is that, Zeekee?"

"Because both documents had the same instructions."

At this Z threw his head back and laughed. Tak, who had been listening to the conversation at a distance, walked over.

"What's so funny with that, Z?"

"Oh, those Tallest are so devious sometimes, really. They didn't want anyone to have their weapon, so they made sure that whatever anyone tried to do, 343 Guilty Spork would ensure that they and the Inundation were destroyed. How perfectly evil!"

Tak nodded. She walked away muttering something that sounded like "bastards."

Suddenly, Larb called out in an anxious voice.

"Uh, Z? You'd better look out the window."

Everyone looked out the window to see the Inundation eating its way through the floor. Upon seeing this, Z quickly turned to the computer and began searching through its files for something. All eyes were trained on the Inundation, who was happily eating up everything below it. Since 343 Guilty Spork had been successfully deactivated, the Arbiters were without a commander, and were simply hovering in midair, unsure what to do. Without the delicious lasers to feed on, the Inundation had turned to other sources of sustenance.

Suddenly Z stood and began leaving. "Let us leave this place quickly! Hurry, follow me, I shall explain on the way!"

The others exchanged confused glances, but followed him without question. They hurried and left the room after him. Walking briskly, Z led them through the twisting passageways of Caper Cove. As he did this, he explained himself.

"It would seem that our problem solves itself today. As soon as I saw the Inundation burrowing under the facility, I had an idea. I went back to the computer that Zeekee had gotten information from, and read through the facility blueprints. There are about fifty tons of antimatter in a containment unit under this facility. How heavy do you think the Inundation is?"

Spleen, who was running beside Z, smiled slowly. "I'd say about fifty tons."

Z nodded. "Actually, it's only about forty-eight tons. But when the Inundation consumes and digests that containment unit, the antimatter will cancel out the matter that the Inundation is made of, thus ridding us of the Weapon. But the remaining antimatter will come into contact with the matter that surrounds the Inundation, and result in a massive explosion-"

"-which will destroy this facility and its surroundings," finished Spleen.

"Right, that is why I am running so quickly out of here."

The group, spurred on by the thought of dying in an explosion, ran a little bit faster. In minutes, they were back in the lobby, and running out the main entrance.

"How long do you think we have?" asked Tak, beginning to grow fatigued.

"Oh, I'd say about eight to ten minutes," Z replied in an offhand manner.

Tak was no longer tired as she ran ahead of Z.

They ran like never before, each one of the irkens (and one Blorch Rat) frightened at the prospect of death. After five minutes of adrenaline-fueled sprinting, the ship was in view. As the group neared the ship, they saw the other hundreds of irkens eagerly awaiting their return.

* * *

The Inundation was very happy. It had been many years since it had tasted the sweet taste of dirt. There really was no taste like it, and as it burrowed deeper and deeper into his snack, it sensed a large mass in front of it that was not dirt.

_EAT, EAT!_ It thought. _OOHH!! I wonder what that TASTES like!_

It began fitting its mouth around it and chewing.

_MMmmm!! It tastes GOOD. It tastes like GOOD. I want more, more._

The Inundation ate more dirt. But suddenly, there was a stabbing pain in its mass. The pain spread across its entirety until its very being burned like a fire.

_Oh, noes! I was wrong!! I was horribly wrong! IT BURNS!! WHY GODS, WHY?_

In seconds, the Inundation winked out of existence, leaving behind no trace that it had ever been, except a hole in the ground, and a large explosion.

* * *

There was no time for greetings as the ground began to shake. Everyone in the hundreds of beings present turned their eyes towards Caper Cove. There, in the distance, came a great light. It flashed so brightly that everyone was blinded and could not see. What seemed like an eternity later, they heard the explosion, a great noise that caused many to shield their audio receptors. When the noise and light died down, they looked to the Research Facility to see nothing put pillars of smoke. Pieces of the facility rained down on them; they all ran into the ship for cover.

Z took the pilot's controls and powered up the ship. As he looked forward, a sign fell out of the sky and landed on the windshield.

"CAPER COVE RESEARCH CENTER

The only limit is yourself"

It screamed at him.

Raising the ship off the ground, Z took one look back at Caper Cove, then turned the ship around and blasted into the sky. It was a long time before anyone spoke. Gradually, conversations began in the cargo hold. There were, after all, hundreds of irkens on the ship, crowded together. After a while, the cargo hold became rather noisy as the passengers shared stories.

Skoodge left the cargo hold and rode the elevator up to the cockpit to take the copilot seat as Tak and Zeekee sat in the back of the cockpit, talking.

"Two-hundred and ninety-two of us," said Skoodge. "That's how many innocent people you rescued. With you, Tak, MIMI, and Zeekee, that makes two-hundred and ninety-six people on this ship."

Z nodded. Skoodge looked back at Tak and Zeekee talking in hushed voices.

"You know, Z," he began," I couldn't help but listen to those to talking." He indicated the pair in the back of the cockpit.

"Oh?" said Z, not taking his eyes from the control display.

"Well, it's just so obvious, you know?"

"My friend, it is obvious to me that I have no idea what you think is obvious."

Skoodge leaned in closer to Z, and whispered, "Well, you know, about Tak. She really has, um, you know."

Sighing, Z turned to Skoodge. "A certain variety of feelings concerning me? Yes, I know."

"She really like you, Z"

Sighing once more, Z replied, "Yes, I know. That's what I was afraid of."

Skoodge didn't understand what Z meant, but he felt that he should keep quiet for a while. The two of them sat, staring off into the stars as Z put the ship on autopilot for some destination.

Space travel truly is very boring, especially if you are a pilot or co-pilot. When you fly above ground on planets, from one city to another, you are able to look down and see interesting sights. But when you are traveling through the vast expanse of the universe, there is nothing to see but blackness and little white dots. Skoodge felt the weight of this boredom, and broke his silence with a question.

"Z?" he asked, "What does por-kay fie-eh-see-mose mean?"

"You mean, Porqué fallecemos."

Skoodge nodded. "Yeah, what 343 Guilty Spork said to you, and what you said back. What language is that?"

"It is Spanish, a dialect native to the planet Earth. It is a quaint little phrase. When you say, '¿Por qué fallecemos?' and you pronounce it like a question, you are asking, 'why do we die?' But when you say 'Porqué fallecemos' in the form of a statement, or a declaration, it has a whole new meaning."

Skoodge waited expectantly for Z to continue.

"Why do we die, he asked me," continued Z, "Why do we die? And I replied that there was no reason for death, no justification. I told him that there is no explanation for death, simply that it happens. Why do we die, he asked me. I replied quite simply."

Z turned to Skoodge.

"Because we die."


	23. Behind The Painted Smile

A/N: -OMFG!! I almost have 100 reviews! And this is only the second fanfic I've ever wrote (but the first one I'm going to finish!).

-this is another one of them "destined to be a long chapter" chapters.

-Well, it's time to bring back our favorite earthly characters! Just when the story ends…

-A lot of people say that Professor Membrane's first name is Membrane, but a lot of people say that Membrane is his last name. I have decided that it is both his first and last name. Hence: Professor Membrane J. Membrane. I added the J for good measure.

-I'm sure most of you already know who Z is. Really though, it's not that hard to guess.

-And now comes the great unveiling!! Who is that mysterious Z? What face lies beneath the Tallest Mask….

….what dark secret lurks behind the painted smile?

* * *

CHAPTER NINETEEN:

"Behind the Painted Smile"

After a few hours, Z reached up to the controls above his head and flipped a switch. The view of space outside the ship flickered out and was replaced by an irken news channel. Z also turned on the various televisions in the cargo hold, so that the others could watch the news. What they saw their brightened everyone's day.

"_It's chaos here in the irken empire,"_said the reporter, standing in front of what appeared to be a large riot. _"Since the deactivation of the _security_ equipment all over the galaxy, more and more irkens are taking to the streets and protesting. Law-drones have been found all over the galaxy, strung up and cut open. The Tallest are calling on the Elite Guard to maintain security, but the trillions of citizens all across the galaxy are rising up and demanding freedom. This reporter here is about to join them"_

The irkens watched as the reporter flung herself into the riot, throwing rocks and debris at Elite Guard Soldiers. Z laughed at this.

"Ah, the brunt of my work is complete. With the citizens of the Empire rising up against the government, there is no way the Tallest can maintain their rule any longer. But I fear it is not enough. The Tallest may no longer be leaders, but rowdy citizens cannot fight against the Elite Guard."

"That's where we come in, right?" asked Skoodge, eager to jump into the battle.

"Eventually, yes, but there is one more thing we must do."

Before Z could explain this, the television display suddenly changed from scenes of riots to the face of a calm and resolute Vortian.

"_Good evening, irken empire,"_ said the Vortian, _"I am captain Lard Nar of the galactic Resisty. For a long time now I and my followers have battled against the harsh rule of the Tallest. I see now that the time has come for us to bond together and fight. I call upon all citizens of the empire to join us in the destruction of the Tallest!"_

Lard Nar raised his fist in the air, about to say something, but lost his balance and fell over backwards. The screen winked out and displayed the words: "Join the Resisty, and Fight! And no, our name is not stupid, shut up!!"

Z reached up and turned off the television, and the screen in front of him switched back to displaying stars.

"Hmm," he mused, "The Resisty will no doubt be a powerful ally to us."

"Do you think we should join them?" asked Skoodge.

"No, I do not. The Resisty is nothing more than a band of rebels. What we have here are the former Invaders, and the elite warriors from Devastis. We should keep separate from them. We will still help them, but I think we should be a group apart from the Resisty."

Skoodge nodded.

Tak walked up to the front of the cockpit. "Z?" she asked, "Where are we going?"

Z paused a moment before speaking. "We are going to Earth. There are a few things I must do, a few people I must visit. For Zim, you know."

Tak nodded.

"There are also some things that we need to discuss when we get there," continued Z, "At least, before we begin our final fight."

* * *

Dib Membrane had spent several months after his attempted suicide in physical therapy, as well as mental therapy. As his father drove him to the psychiatrist's office, Dib reflected on his recent experiences.

He was not crazy; he knew that for sure. Looking down at the scars on his wrists, he thought about the one stupid mistake he had made in his life, and how it had almost cost him the ultimate price.

Physical therapy had been awful. When he had slit his wrists, he had also cut through the tendons that attached muscles to his hand. He had to spend months healing these, and learning how to use his hands again.

But the mental therapy had been the worst, he decided. It was bad enough that his father had decided that he was crazy, but it was worse that he now had to spend hour upon hour in a doctor's office talking about depression and how it hurt those around you. He absolutely could not stand it. This particular appointment was no different. Upon arrival, Dib had stepped out of the car, and his father drove away, muttering "my poor insane son…" Dib watched the car leave, thinking that at least his father should come in and talk to the psychiatrist or something, but then again, Professor Membrane J. Membrane never took part in either of his two children's lives.

Dib walked through the medical center's doors and checked in at the front desk. Then he sat down in the waiting room and looked expectantly at the door to Dr. Pembry's office.

"What're you in for, kid?" asked a voice next to him.

Dib looked over and found himself sitting next a tall thin man with a pale face and dull eyes. The man looked down on him, waiting for an answer.

"Uh, the usual," answered Dib vaguely, hoping that the man would leave him alone.

The man looked away and said absently, "Yeah, we're all in here for something or other. Sooner or later, you forget why it was you came here in the first place."

Dib rolled his eyes and got up was the office door opened and Dr. Pembry motioned with his hand for Dib to come in. Resigned to his fate, and despising it the entire way, Dib walked over, praying that the appointment would be over quickly. Walking into the office, Dib sat in his regular place in the chair across from Dr. Pembry's desk. But today was destined to be different.

"No, no, not there. Sit here," said Doctor Pembry, indicating another seat set up next to a chess table.

Dib, wary of the change, slowly took the seat as Dr. Pembry took the sat across from him.

"White or Black?" asked Dr. Pembry, setting up the pieces.

"I dunno, you choose," answered Dib, watching Dr. Pembry's every move.

Dr. Pembry wrote something down on his official-looking notepad before continuing.

The pieces set up, Dr. Pembry gave Dib the white side, taking the black pieces for himself. Dib had the first move. Dr. Pembry sat back and waited expectantly for Dib to move a piece. Dib looked at Dr. Pembry, then at the chessboard, then back again. He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it is your move, you know," said Dr. Pembry gently.

Dib wondered what in the world chess had to do with helping him deal with depression, but he played along anyway and moved a piece. After a moment, Dr. Pembry moved one of his pieces. They went back and forth for a few minutes in silence.

Dib knew that Dr. Pembry was going to eventually talk. It was always this way. Dr. Pembry always broke the silence, and by now, Dib could tell exactly when. A certain look came into the doctor's face when he was about to talk. After a few minutes of silent chess playing, Dib saw this look cross the psychiatrist's face. Dib silently counted down from three. Right when he reached zero, Dr. Pembry spoke up. Dib smiled. Damn, he was good.

"You seem to be quite good at chess," Dr. Pembry said. "Do you play often?"

"Not really," Dib answered softly. He couldn't stand the question-answer situation of therapy.

"Do you like chess?"

Dib was sure that this question was somehow loaded, and answering it would lead to another question about life and it's endings. He sighed inwardly and answered, bracing himself for the depression discussion.

"Yeah, I do."

"Why?"

Dib was somewhat taken aback by this simple question. He warily answered.

"I dunno. I just do."

Dr. Pembry nodded, and they continued playing. "I'll give you time to think about that answer," he said.

The chess playing went on for a few more minutes. Within a few moves, Dib ruthlessly took out a knight, a bishop, and the opposing queen. Dr. Pembry, showing no surprise at this, peered down at the board, his supply of pieces quickly dwindling.

"Hmm," he mused, "I retract my previous statement. You don't seem to be good at chess. You _are_ good at chess."

He moved his king behind the protection of his remaining pieces.

"I think you've had some time to think about that question, now."

Dib nodded as he considered his next move. "Why I like chess? I guess it's because it's a game that's all about predicting what your enemy's going to do."

"How so?"

Dib looked up from the chessboard. What was with all these simple questions?

"Well, you've got to know your enemy, or at least learn about how they think by watching them move. You've got to see what your rival will do before he does it. It's a war, and you've got to win."

Dr. Pembry nodded understandingly as he wrote more down on his pad.

"Do you think that's why you're good at chess? Because you're good at predicting the other person's moves?"

"You're all predictable," Dib muttered.

Looking up from his pad, Dr Pembry asked, "What was that?"

"It's not hard, humans are very predictable."

"What do you mean by that?"

Dib sat back. "Well, it's like, I can tell what people are gonna say, gonna do. I could tell when you were about to break the silence a while ago, just by seeing you. All my classmates, I can tell when they're gonna make fun of me, criticize me. Humans are so simple and predictable. I hate that."

"Is that why you were so interested in Zim?"

This question completely threw him off. Dib hadn't predicted that one. "Who told you about Zim? I never talked about him."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "I spoke with your father once, asked him questions. He brought up Zim, the little green boy. Said you thought he was an alien. If what you just told me was true, then it follows that you were interested in Zim, because you thought he was from another world."

Dib sighed. "He _was_ an alien. I didn't_ think_ it, I _knew_ it."

"Was?" asked Dr. Pembry.

"Huh?"

"You said he _was_ an alien. Did he turn into something else?"

Dib rolled his eyes. "No. He's gone now."

"Where did he go?"

Dib narrowed his eyes, knowing that his next answer would no doubt excite the psychiatrist.

"He killed himself."

"Ah, I see."

There was another round of silence as Dib mercilessly destroyed Dr. Pembry's remaining bishop, rook, and knight.

"You know, Dib," said Dr. Pembry, after Dib had once more mentally counted down from three, "I've looked through the city records, as well as the Skool records, and I can find no trace that this Zim apparition ever existed."

"Yes, I know. I've tried many times to find that kind of stuff, but I can't. He was an alien, you can't expect him to have registered as a citizen. And don't you dare," he said, looking up from the chessboard, "even suggest that I imagined him. I get that enough from my dad."

"I was going to say nothing of the sort," said Dr. Pembry, looking at Dib over the rims of his glasses.

Dib made his final move, placing Dr. Pembry in checkmate. "You shouldn't just let your patients win. They can tell, and it just makes them feel worse."

Dr. Pembry didn't reply as he looked over the board, trying to find a way out. Finally, seeing that Dib had indeed won, he sat back and began writing more notes on his notepad. Several minutes passed as he did this, and for once Dib was the first to break the silence.

"You don't believe that Zim existed."

Dr. Pembry held up a hand. "I said nothing that suggested-"

"Yeah, but you still don't," Dib interrupted. "Everyone is so predictable. Either I'm imagining things, or I'm just making things up to get attention. Nobody even considers that I might just be right."

Dr. Pembry leaned forward. "Okay, let's pretend for a moment that I don't believe you."

"You don't."

"That remains to be seen, just work with me here, Dib."

"Whatever."

Dr. Pembry sat back. "Let us pretend I don't believe you. Now, you can hardly blame me, right?"

"I have proof, though. Pictures, videos, stuff like that. I even know students who can vouch for me that a little green boy actually went to school here. And, besides, what about that explosion in the cul-de-sac down the street from Skool? That's where Zim killed himself."

"You mean the place where the gas main blew," corrected Dr. Pembry.

"That was no gas explosion."

Dr. Pembry nodded. Dib could tell that the psychiatrist was just thinking of a new angle to approach the subject. He was tired of that.

"You'll never understand," he said, exasperated.

"Now that," said Dr. Pembry, latching on to Dib's words, "That is something I hear in here every day. 'You'll never understand,' 'you couldn't possibly understand,' I hear that all the time. The problem is, I need to understand. I have a PhD in psychology, but it does me no good if you don't help me understand."

"But you don't! You won't!" said Dib, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Try me. Let's put me in your shoes."

Dr. Pembry set his notepad aside and said, "Okay. I am Dib Membrane. I am a thin teenager with large glasses and a lock of hair that does not cooperate with my comb. I see an alien bent on destroying the world, and the others are oblivious of his evildoings. What am I thinking?"

He looked expectantly at Dib. Frowning, Dib stated what he felt to be the obvious.

"Well, duh, you've got to expose him. I've got to save the world. I can't just let the alien take over earth."

"Yes, of course. Now, we are fighting, I and this Zim fellow. He, trying to destroy humankind, and I, the unobserved and underappreciated hero of this story, am trying my hardest to stop him. But then, what? Something happens. What is it?"

Dib knew what was coming, but he continued anyway, knowing that there was no way out. "Zim stopped fighting."

"Ah, I see. Now I am triumphant, correct? I, Dib Membrane have defeated the alien Zim. Saved the world, no less! And does anyone care? Do any of my other human acquaintances realize what I have done, and appreciate me for it?"

Dib rolled his eyes, once more stating the obvious. "No, duh!"

"And so here we are, I have done this great deed, and nobody cares. How does that make me feel?"

Dib shook his head. "No, no you've got it all wrong. I couldn't care less about what other humans thought of me. It didn't matter to me that nobody saw how hard I worked to protect this planet. I have lived my entire life unnoticed by even my own father. I am so used to it, I no longer care."

"Are you sure of that?" asked Dr. Pembry, folding his arms.

"YES! I am sure of that!" Dib raised his voice slightly. "I say again, you will never understand if you refuse to believe that Zim existed. He was real, all right. He was as real as you and me, and he was the only being on this earth who took me for I was. We fought, yes, that's true, but that is not what mattered to me. From the day I met him, Zim realized how much of a threat I could be. He realized that I was not just some dumb crazy kid who ranted and raved all day, I was a sane and rational young man who saw straight through his disguise."

"So he was a worthy rival. Stopping him was like playing chess, correct? It was fun, because he saw you as Dib Membrane, not just a crazy person. But that is not our problem. You did not feel unhappy when you were fighting him. But then something happened, and I think I know now."

"Yes, doctor, you're beginning to understand, but do you believe? When Zim wiped his own existence from the universe, I was left alone, or at least it felt that way. I should have felt triumphant that I had defeated him, but I was instead left with despair. The one person who saw me for what I was had killed himself. I was left with nobody."

"And _that_ right there is our little problem," said Dr. Pembry, leaning forward to inspect the chessboard once more. "That is where you are wrong. There are people who care for you in this world. For instance, who was it that found you when you had given up? It was your own sister. She took you to the hospital, and, if I remember correctly, she cried as well."

Dib nodded.

"Not all people are the same, Dib," said Dr. Pembry, "You must realize this. For so long, you have shown people that you don't care what they think of you. Outwardly, you have cast out the very race that bore you. But that is not the real you. On the inside, you are just afraid that there truly is nobody out there who cares about you."

"Well, maybe," said Dib grudgingly.

"We all have our masks that we wear in public," said Dr. Pembry. "We all dance about with our fake eyes and painted smiles, but when we are alone, we allow ourselves to come out. For instance, here in the office you see various shelves of books on medical sciences, games, and many, many notepads. You would think to yourself, 'this man is a psychologist.' But that is just my mask. At home, I am a great lover of Ken Dolls. And you will tell nobody that," he added, looking at Dib over the rims of his glasses.

"But for you this is much different," continued the doctor. "You have gone beyond putting up appearances. We may all wear masks, but you have become yours."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Dib.

"When we wear these figurative masks in public, we allow them to become a part of ourselves. We must do this, to remain genuine, to keep our cover. But sometimes, we go beyond that. Sometimes, we become a part of our masks, and we forget who we are. And when that mask is stripped from us, and our true being exposed to ourselves, we cannot stand it. When you were left alone, you realized that you could not bear the thought of being by yourself, no matter how much you tried to convince yourself."

The doctor shook his head sadly and added, "The masks belong to us, they are part of who we are, but if you are not careful, you may find that _you_ belong to _it._"

Dib now understood. He nodded, biting back tears. After a few moments of silence, Dib looked at Dr. Pembry and said, "You say it as though you know it so well."

Dr. Pembry nodded, and silently rolled up his sleeves. He presented Dib with his wrists, across which ran jagged scars.

"I, too was in your position once."

Dib stared at the scars.

Looking up at the clock, Dr. Pembry started. "Oh, my, we have gone over our time here. Well, this was an informative session for both of us, I think."

Dib nodded and stood. Before he walked out the door, Dr. Pembry said a last few words.

"I don't think I will be needing to see you anymore. But, if you feel you need someone to talk to, you know where I'll be."

Dib nodded.

"Oh, and by the way," added Dr. Pembry, looking down at the chessboard, "I didn't let you win."

Dib walked out of the office, smiling.

* * *

Not far from Skool, in a certain cul-de-sac that had once been home to an irken, a man sat out on his lawn in a lawn chair. Dressed in little more than his boxers and a t-shirt, he stared up at the sky and drank a beer. Next to him, his wife stood, watering her plants with a hose. As the man looked up at the heavens, he saw a object blasting through the sky. It's brightness rivaled that of the sun as it speeded towards the ground.

"Hey, lookit that," he grumbled to his wife, "It's one of them meteor-things."

"Mm-hmm," answered the wife, not looking up from her plants.

* * *

Dib returned home in his father's car. Professor Membrane, brightened by the news that his son no longer needed therapy, offered both his children rides in his new experimental space shuttle. Both Gaz and Dib declined, each coming up with their own excuse.

"Well, if you really don't want to…" he said, "I guess I'll just go down to my lab and research ways to save the world!"

And with that, he was down the stairs into the basement. Moments later, the anguished cries of lab rats mixed with the periodic sound of a blowtorch could be heard coming up from the lab. Gaz sat down on the couch and began playing games. GIR bounced happily up beside her and laughed as he watched her slay enemies in various gory ways. Dib went upstairs to his room and fell asleep listening to music.

What seemed like moments later, he was awakened by Gaz, who was prodding him roughly with her new Gameslave 3 Advance SP DS 360 Turbo Handheld Gaming System.

"Hey, big brother, get up. Some of your stupid friends are outside waiting for you. I didn't know you had any friends."

Mystified, Dib got up and ran down the stairs, followed by his sister, who did not even take her eyes off of her game. Not slowing down, he ran across the living room, then slid to a stop in front of the front door. Throwing the door wide, he gasped with surprise to see a massive spaceship landed out in the street parallel to his house. But even more to his surprise was the person standing in front of him.

"T-Tak?" he asked. "Oh, no." He backed away, trying to recall the locations of all the anti-alien weaponry he had stashed in his house.

Tak held up a placating claw. "Don't worry, human. I am not here to try to destroy your race again. There is someone here who would like to talk to you."

She motioned behind herself to a tall figure standing on the sidewalk. This irken came closer, and Dib gasped.

"A Tallest?" he said, awestruck.

The tall figure stood by Tak. Twice as tall as the female irken, he towered over Dib and Gaz.

"No, little human. I am not a true Tallest, though I wear their clothes," said the irken through a mask. "May we come in? There are things I wish to discuss with you."

Still struck with disbelief, Dib nodded and motioned the two in. Professor Membrane had just come up from the basement and was fixing himself some toast as a snack. He showed no surprise when two aliens walked through his door. In fact, he merely nodded and waved a friendly hand at the two figures and continued eating his toast.

"Should we hide the ship outside?" asked Tak.

Dib shook his head. "Nah, all the other humans are too stupid to see what's right in front of their noses. I wouldn't bother."

Dib sat the two irkens down on the living room couch and turned off the television that GIR was watching. GIR, now distracted from his previous activity, turned his attention to the two newcomers. He instantly recognized Tak.

"Scary irken lady!! I looove you!!" he exclaimed, climbing all over Tak's head like a monkey. Noticing the Tallest for the first time, he jumped down to the floor, and then clambered onto the tall irken's legs and said, "OOOhhhhh! Do I know YOUUUU??"

The masked irken laughed. "No, I don't think so, little SIR unit."

"Yes I does! You're the man with the tacos!"

GIR opened up his head, withdrew a taco from it, then happily sat on the rug, munching away. With the little robot distracted, the two irkens now addressed Dib and Gaz. Dib paid rapt attention and hung on to their every word, while Gaz merely nodded and grunted accordingly, not looking up from her game.

"There are many things to tell you, yet little time in which to do so," said the masked irken. Suddenly, he started. "Oh, my. Where are my manners? I must introduce myself!"

Dib enjoyed talking to this irken. He had the most quaint and refined manner of speech.

"I suppose," continued the masked tallest, "that in times like this, I would give you my name. However, I haven't one. You may call me Z."

"Nice to meet you, Z."

"And it seems that you know Tak already."

Dib nodded. "It seems as though I have forgotten my manners also. Could I offer you something to eat? I know how to make non-lethal sandwiches."

"That would be lovely, thank you," said Z.

Dib got up and busied himself in the kitchen. In minutes, he produced two sandwiches, identical to the ones he had served Zim over two years earlier, the day Zim killed himself.

"Thank you," said Tak sweetly when he served them.

As he was handing Z the plate, his wrist suddenly went weak, and he had to grasp the plate in both hands to keep it from slipping. He handed Z the plate, then ruefully rubbed his wrists.

"Sorry, I'm just getting over an injury. I, uh, cut myself."

Z nodded without a word, and the two irkens ate their sandwiches in silence. For a few minutes, the room was silent, save for the clacking sounds of Gaz pushing buttons on her Gameslave.

"Well, the time has come, I think," spoke Z at last, "for the two of us to relate to you a story. It is important that you listen carefully, because we came here to seek your help."

For the next hour, Tak and Z related their own personal stories to Dib. Tak told of how she had escaped from Vort, and how Z had rescued her. Z told him of his exploits, and how he worked to clear Zim's name, and bring down the Tallest. By the end of that hour, Dib knew everything that had been written thus far in this book. It was a lot to take in, but Dib had a big head, and it wasn't there just for show. Z finally ended with a question.

"Dib, I must ask you for your help. I need your intellect, and your father's genius. And I'm sure that Gaz's ruthless nature will be of help also. I want to take down the Tallest. Will you help me?"

Dib was bursting with excitement. "Of course I will! I mean, I will, but I don't know if my father will believe that you're an alien. And Gaz will just do whatever, as long as she can play games."

"Damn straight," muttered Gaz, not looking up from her Gameslave.

"Well, I think I can convince him well enough," said Z, "Bring your father out to my ship. We must prepare properly if we are to begin. Oh, and bring that lovely little SIR unit you have. He is most interesting."

"You mean we're leaving right away?" asked Dib.

"No time like the present," said Z, standing and heading for the front door.

Dib ran to the basement door and pounded on it calling for his father.

"Dad? Dad! Come outside, there's something I need to show you!"

Professor Membrane's voice was muffled through the door. "Not now, son! I'm busy saving the world!"

Dib thought for a moment, then said, "But this is about saving the galaxy, Dad! It's more important!"

The door was instantly open, and Professor Membrane was headed for the door.

"Come, now son! No dilly-dallying! Time to work!"

Dib rolled his eyes and followed his father out the door. Out in the street, the spaceship was still there, but (not surprisingly) nobody had noticed.

"Hmm, what an interesting looking car," said Professor Membrane.

"It's not a car, Dad, it's a spaceship."

"What? More about aliens? I thought you just finished your therapy! Do I need to take you back?"

"No, Dad! Just come with me. You'll see."

Dib led his father into the spaceship, and found himself in the large cargo hold, which held hundreds of irkens, all looking up intently at Z, who was standing on top of a storage box, waiting for everyone to pay attention.

"Friends, Comrades!" he yelled, "Hear me! I know you all are here for the same reason as I: to take down Red and Purple!"

The crowd roared. Z waved his claw to silence them.

"Yes, yes I know how much you all want to jump into battle, but there is something that I must first do."

His voice suddenly became sad.

"I'm afraid that I have been deceiving you all. There is something I must show you, and I hope you will understand my I have chosen to lie to you about this."

He began pressing various buttons on his wrist computer. There was a hiss, and steam vented from the back of his Tallest suit. The costume fell away to reveal a very short irken.

"I am not who you think I am, and it is important for you to understand this," he continued

He reached behind his head, and unfastened the clasps that held the Spork mask to his face. The mask fell away to reveal an irken that nobody would have expected to see.

It was Zim.

* * *

It was an absolute disaster, Red decided. It had only been a few weeks since the destruction of Caper Cove, and already half of the prisons on Vort had been breached. Prisoners were escaping from the prison planet in droves, joining the Resisty. Red and Purple had suddenly found themselves without a Council to do their work with them; Fin and Dom had left, and Creed was dead. Not long after the explosion at Caper Cove, Inspector Lodd had been found dead, hanging from the ceiling in his own home.

It was total chaos in the irken empire, and Red found himself alone in the fight to keep control. Purple had retreated to his quarters, not allowing anyone in, and simply stayed in their for weeks. Red, however, did his best to maintain control. Whenever a huge breakout of riots came out, the Massive was there, doing its best to stop the disarray.

"Don't let those violent protestors take us!" he yelled at the pilot. They were, at the moment, being chased by a ragtag militia in small cruisers. The Massive was presently without its large Armada, as Red had come up with a final plan that would stop the revolution that was brewing.

"Is our strike force in position?" we asked the communications officer.

"Yes, sir! The forces of the Armada have been spread out across the galaxy, a few ships for each planet, just as you ordered, my Tallest!"

"Sir!" yelled the pilot, "We've lost our pursuers. Preparing to enter orbit around the nearest planet."

"You do that, pilot. How is our ship doing?"

The chief engineer spoke up now. "We have minimal damage to the outer hull, and some weapons systems are not responding. I estimate two hours before repairs are complete."

Red nodded. Finally, he could rest and breath a sigh of relief. Turning once more to the communications officer, he said, "Open all channels. I wish to speak with the entire Armada."

The communications officer nodded and pressed a few buttons. On the main screen, a huge theatre-sized LCD display, the faces of several irkens appeared. These were the captains of his flagships. Addressing them, he gave the final executive order.

"Execute order number 616," he said.

The captains each nodded and the screens winked out. Red sat back down in his chair and sighed with relief. Things were finally coming his way.

* * *

All around the galaxy, ships from the Armada had stationed themselves above planets, waiting silently. From the moment the order was given, they sprang to life, firing their weapons upon the surface of the planets. But their weapons were not filled with explosives and lasers. They were filled with something less deadly, but no less sinister.

They were filled with Nanites.

* * *

Unseen by the ships of the Armada, a small Vortian cruiser sat on one of the various moons orbiting Vort. At its helm sat Captain Lard Nar, of the Resisty. He shook his head sadly as he watched the government battlecruisers rain nanotechnology down on his home planet.

"Shit…oh, shit…" breathed the pilot next to him. Lard Nar patted the pilot's arm.

"Don't you worry. We'll pay them back in full," he said consolingly. He looked back at the scene and whispered to himself, "By the gods, we'll pay them back."

The entire crew of the small cruiser watched as the planet of Vort became nothing more than a cesspool of obedience and mindlessness.

* * *

"No. There's no way it could possibly be you," said Dib.

It is difficult to tell who was more surprised to see Zim step out of the tallest suit. By far, Dib had the most impressive facial expression; his mouth was open. But the most interesting reaction, perhaps, were the words that Gaz spoke seconds after Zim revealed himself.

"It's all your fault," she said, just barely loud enough to be heard.

Gaz, dropped her Gameslave without a second thought. With little sound, she launched herself at the little irken, landing on top of him, and pummeling him mercilessly with clenched fists.

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault!" she yelled, beating Zim violently.

All the irkens seemed to shrink back from the scene; it was evident that nobody had expected to see Zim again. Gaz continued to bash Zim with her bare hands.

"He tried to kill himself, you bastard. He tried to fucking kill himself!" Gaz was crazed with anger, and it wasn't until Dib pulled her roughly away from the alien that she stopped and calmed down.

"Who?" asked Zim, standing and wiping blood from his face.

"Dib, you worthless moron!" she yelled, "Dib killed himself because of you. Do you have any idea, any idea at all what that did to me?"

"I can't believe it's you."

Zim turned around to see Tak finally speaking. There was a cold glint in her eyes, and she walked slowly towards him.

"You ruined my life, Zim. I was glad to see you die, and I can't believe that I… that for some reason I could ever….that I thought about-"

She broke off, unable to find the right words.

"Yes! I ruined your life," said Zim to Tak, and to Gaz he said, "I am sorry, I had no idea."

Throwing his arms wide, he addressed them both. "It matters little to me now whether I die or not. What I have started cannot be stopped. The Tallest no longer hold sway over the Empire. What I had set out to do is finished. If you wish to kill me, that is your choice."

He winced, expecting more merciless blows. Tak walked over to him, and shoved him roughly to the ground.

"You saved my life on Conventia. If you are to go to war with the Tallest, I'll follow you, but don't expect me to like you."

Zim nodded. He looked over at Gaz.

"What's done is done," she said, returning to her game.

Zim got up back on the box, and addressed the mass of bodies.

"I shall go to war with Red and Purple. If you do not wish to follow me, leave now. I have made mistakes in my life, but if you share the same dream as me, I ask that you fight by my side."

Not a single irken stirred. Zim nodded, and stepped down. "There are things I must do, first," he said.

He walked over to Dib, who was just getting over his surprise.

"I need your help, Dib human. The tallest will not simply stop at their own Empire. They intend to conquer the entire galaxy," he said.

It was a few moments before Dib answered.

"Two years ago, you would not even have dreamed of saying that."

They both laughed, breaking the tension.

"How?" asked Dib. "How did you survive?"

Zim shook his head sadly. "When I crawled out of that fiery pit, I cursed the gods that created me. I asked them, why would they not let me die? I ran, seemingly unhurt, blindly off. I ran to the edge of town, and then kept running. I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was that I should have been dead, but I was not. When I finally got a hold of myself, I was transformed, so to speak. I realized that I could not allow the Tallest to get away with ruining me. I stole the only ship I knew that could leave this planet and travel into the surrounding areas: Tak's ship. I also took some of your father's prototype electronics for good measure. I then spent months learning all I could about the irken Empire and the Tallest. What I found angered me, and, well, you know the rest of the story."

Suddenly, Professor Membrane, whom everyone had forgotten, spoke up.

"Dib, who are all these friends of yours?"

Dib sighed. Turning to his father, he said, "Dad, can't you tell they're not from this world?"

"Son, I will hear no more of this nonsense. Now, make your friends leave, as they are blocking the street."

Angered by years of his father's ignorance and denial, Dib finally blew up on his father.

"Why do you always assume that you are right and I am insane?" he yelled. "Why can't you ever see what's right in front of your god-damn face?"

He jumped up and ripped the goggles off his father's face. A collective gasp went up between those present who knew Professor Membrane.

Professor Membrane had mechanical eyes

Dib looked down at the goggles, and dropped them. "What…what the hell?"

Professor Membrane began to cry, or at least it appeared that he was crying; no tears streamed down his cheeks. He let loose a string of dry sobs.

"I know I never told you this," he said. "Your mother did not simply disappear, in the way I told you. She was taken, taken away from us."

"What?" asked Dib, stepping closer.

Professor Membrane snatched up his goggles and put them back on.

"I witnessed a ship, very much like this one, pull her into itself, and fly away. When I looked directly into the ship, it flashed a blinding light which destroyed my eyes; I had to fashion new ones. With the loss of my wife, I was stricken with grief. I denied what I had seen, convincing myself that I had been insane or something at the time. I have spent years in that denial, and have buried myself in my work because of my grief."

It was as though revealing himself to Dib had caused a transformation in him. Calmer now, he looked around at all the short little aliens around him.

"But no more," he said. "Son, I have been less than an adequate parental figure, and I promise that shall not happen again. Now, what's this about saving the galaxy?"

They all laughed at that.

* * *

The cemetery was a cold place to be, even in the heat of midday. Cemeteries are like that; no matter when you enter one, you are always stricken with a sense of loss. These were the exact feelings of Dib, Gaz, Zim, and Professor Membrane, as they entered the city cemetery.

Dib and Gaz led the group to the place where their mother's grave lay. Next to it was the grave that Dib and Gaz had made for Zim two years earlier. Zim shivered, but not from the cold.

"It is a strange feeling, my friends, to peer down on one's own grave."

They all stood silently and looked down upon the two headstones.

"Well, I guess we should get rid of it, then," said Dib.

"No," said Zim quietly, "Keep it. The Zim you knew once before is dead. He killed himself. I have changed, perhaps for the better, but there has been a change nonetheless. Let this serve as a reminder of the Zim who once was."

Without a single word more, Zim turned on his heel and marched silently away, back to the parking lot. The others followed after.

"Zim?" Dib asked as they were driving home, "There's one thing I don't get. Why is it that you now have a more refined way of speaking?"

"You dare ask Zim of his speaking, human?" came the cheeky reply.

Dib laughed. "No, I'm serious, Zim"

"Spend a couple of years reading literature from various planets, and perhaps your diction will improve to, Dib monkey. But I think there is more to it. I think that the way I spoke became a way of disguising myself from Tak and the others. Who would have expected Zim to adopt such mannerisms, you know?"

Dib nodded, and recalled what Dr. Pembry had said to him. "'We all dance about with our fake eyes and painted smiles,'" he quoted. Then, he added his own end to that statement, as he thought about Gaz and his father and himself.

"But those masks we wear, they are not us, and in the end, the only way to be genuine is to embrace yourself."

* * *

They returned to the Membrane household within minutes. The ship was still out in the street, lying in plain sight. Arrangements were made that night to leave; Professor Membrane would not ever pass up the chance to save the galaxy.

That very night they all boarded the large cargo ship. With Zim at the controls, the ship rose silently into the night.

Zim sat alone in the cockpit until Skoodge came in and took the co-pilot seat. Everyone had gotten over the shock of seeing Zim, even Skoodge. The two sat in silence for a while, until Skoodge spoke up.

"So, I guess this means we're going to war then, huh?"

Zim chuckled. "It sure does."

Skoodge nodded. "You know, Zim, we aren't much of an army."

"Yes, but we are the best and fiercest warriors of the irken empire, save for a few of us who are not irken. The Tallest decided that, remember?"

Skoodge nodded again, recalling the selection ceremony that the Tallest had held on Devastis, no more than a month earlier.

"You know, Zim," he said, "I did some math earlier, which I know is something I don't really do, but I found something interesting. There are three-hundred of us here."

Zim thought for a moment, then replied, "Yes, I see. Two-hundred and ninety-four irkens, two SIR units, three humans, and a rat. Huh, what an odd thing to happen. Three-hundred. That's a nice round number."

* * *

Out in the vast expanse of space, a small ship made it's way out of a solar system that held the planet known as earth. It's crew, an army of three-hundred beings of varying species. It blasted through the empty void of the universe, it's destination known only to the pilot. Every single person on that ship was ready to fight for freedom, and to fight for what they knew was right.

And it is here, my dear readers, where the story of the charismatic masked irken known as Z ends.

Yet, perhaps the story is simply beginning.

END OF PART ONE

* * *

A/N:-Whew! I'm finally finished with this fic.

-I know some of you nitpickers will point out that there is no epilogue or afterword in this fic, yet there is a foreword and prologue. That's because this was just part one. Part two will have the epilogue and afterword. I'm still deciding who will write the afterword: Dib? Tak? Zeekee? Or, how about GIR??

-Anyways, look for the sequel, entitled "300."


End file.
